


Of Scales and Sea Glass

by Stellar_Alley



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe, Completed, Domestic Fluff, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mermaids, Reddie, Richie Tozier Being a Dumbass, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting, mermaid, mermaid au, mermaid!richie, merman, merman!richie, richie!mermaid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:34:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24742390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stellar_Alley/pseuds/Stellar_Alley
Summary: Eddie is terrified of the water. Which is kind of ironic considering that he lives by the ocean. He says that he'd need a miracle to be able to go back into the water. Little did he expect his miracle to be a dark scaly creature that washed up into his pool after an intense tropical storm.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 55
Kudos: 145





	1. The Thing In My Pool

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to my beta @ambitiousskychild  
> Also, don't forget to check out my Instagram Stellar.Cosplays and my Tumblr stellar-alley if you want to see more of me and what goes on in my life!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie deals with the anniversary of his parent's death.  
> After an intense tropical storm, he discovers something has washed up in his pool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you my latest and greatest written word baby. If you know me then you know I absolutely adore mermaids and those types of AUs so when this idea spawned in my head, I knew I had to write it. I also adore Reddie so it's the best of both worlds.  
> Overall I'm really proud of this story and how it plays out, so enjoy!  
> Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter

_It’s just water._  
_You’ll be fine_ _  
_ God, why do you always worry so damn much?

“FUCK” Eddie groaned as he raked his hand through his hair. “Fuck…” He repeated, letting his voice trail off this time. 

_It’s been a year, you should be over this by now_. 

Sure it might’ve been a year, but that didn’t mean Eddie Kaspbrak was any less terrified of the ocean. Its endless blue and unexplored depths made Eddie want to be anywhere else. It didn’t help that the ocean was literally in Eddie’s backyard. All that he needed to know was that exactly one year ago today, that blue, those depths, took his parent’s lives, and that was enough to scare the boy shitless. Only now, on the anniversary of Sonia and Frank Kaspbrak’s death, did he finally decide to do something about it. 

Eddie stood about 50 feet away from his back porch, his feet in the sand and a towel wrapped over his shoulders. He watched the waves fall and crash over the sand. Tonight the weathermen were calling for a killer storm, which seemed oddly appropriate in the boy’s head. It was almost like his mother was giving him a sign. It was like her way of saying “Eddie-bear, go back inside! The world is dangerous, so stay in your room!” because that’s what she did. 

For most of Eddie’s life, he was fed placebos, convinced he had asthma, and practically forced to be straight. It was all his mother’s doings. Ever since her death Eddie has come to terms with all of his fake illnesses, he’s even been able to come out to his friends! Of course, they all accepted him and helped him whenever he needed it. He was really grateful for the losers he called his friends. 

Lighting struck in the distance, it sent a flash of light over Eddie’s face that caused him to shrink into his towel. The dark clouds that loomed overhead only caused Eddie’s heart to beat harder inside his ribcage. 

Thunder cackled soon after. Eddie’s eyes teared up as he looked up and into the waves, “I-I’m sorry,” He choked, barely able to get the words out. 

Eddie shuffled back into his oceanside house before the rain started, which was good cause when it rained, it poured. The first thing he did when he got inside was close all of the blinds, unable to look out into his backyard without his stomach-turning, the guilt was practically eating away at him. The last thing he saw as he closed the blinds were his pool, the water reflected the dark clouds that loomed overhead, creating a haunting atmosphere. 

The realization caused Eddie to sigh, “That’s gonna be a pain in my ass to clean.” Storms like these always brought the most random crap up from the bottom of the ocean, somehow all of it always ended up in Eddie’s pool. He didn’t even want the pool, he lived so close to the ocean, it was kinda useless. Well, aside from the days when it was too cold to swim in the ocean , that’s when he’d usually heat the pool up and swim in there instead. That was when he still swam. Now he hasn’t used that thing in well over a year. 

After Sonia and Frank passed, The Kaspbrak’s residence was passed down to their only child, Eddie. That house included an underground pool, a house way too big for one person, and an almost private beach that only he and his next door neighbours had access to. (His neighbours on the left never used it though. They were an elderly couple. Sometimes he’d find them sitting outside on the warm days, but they weren’t the outdoor type. His neighbours on the right had their yard fenced off). Eddie never used the pool but kept it clean for the days when his friends came over. They'd go swimming while he read in the shade. 

That night Eddie slept with his ear buds in, music on loud and the covers pulled over his head. He hated how scared he was of the water. He missed the way the waves made him feel. It was something he's never felt before, when he swam he was safe, and free. He's tried to overcome it, but nothing has worked. He'd need a miracle to convince him to get back into the water. 

~

Eddie woke up the next morning to the early morning sunlight streaming in through the cracks of his blinds. He mentally cursed out God for creating the sun before he turned over and shoved his face deeper into his pillow. After about 20 more minutes of internal complaining, Eddie finally dragged himself out of bed. His head was waterlogged, hazed by sleep. So when he opened the blinds to his back doors all he saw was a mass of sea shit that now crowded his pool. Instead of focusing on exactly what had washed up onto his property, he simply rolled his eyes and went to go back to breakfast. 

Eddie checked his phone, hoping it’d wake his mind up a little but he sighed as he realized he didn’t have any wifi. His realization brought a thought to the forefront of his mind. “Oh no…. No, no, no,” Eddie mumbled as he padded over towards the nearest light switch. “Fuck,” He leaned his head up against the wall when the lights didn’t turn on. This was something else that happened a lot when they were hit by a storm, the power goes out. 

After breakfast, Eddie got changed out of his pyjamas. He opted to put on an older black tee as he knew he’d be cleaning today. He pulled his iconic red shorts on and slipped on a pair of sneakers. He gathered up all of the cleaning supplies he had set aside for storms like these and set them out on his back porch. 

The morning air smelled of rain and salt. The temperature had dropped a couple of degrees from the previous day, which was refreshing, but it didn’t change the fact that Eddie had a whole yard to clean. 

First, he swept off the porch. He pushed all of the twigs, branches and sand onto the ground below. He noticed one of his neighbour’s palm trees had several fallen branches. That would explain the countless leaves that were scattered across his yard and filled his pool. 

After, he collected as much of the debris from the lawn as he could. Stuffing everything into garbage bags, tying them up, then carrying them to his front yard, where they’d sit until garbage day. Once he was in his front yard, he looked around at his neighbour’s lawns and saw they were all going through the same hell that he was. Everyone was out with garbage bins and shovels, cleaning up the mess the storm left behind. 

“EDDIE! HEY!” A voice called out to him. 

Eddie turned towards the voice and saw his neighbour to the right, Beverly Marsh. He was one of the lucky kids who conveniently lived beside one of his best friends. While the rest of their Losers Club lived no more than 20 minutes away, Bev and Eddie lived the closest, which made it easy for the group to meet up. Even if their meetups almost always ended up at Eddie’s house. 

When his mother was alive, she rarely let all of them come over, but now that she was gone, most of their summer break was spent in Eddie’s backyard, in the pool, on the beach, or in his basement watching movies. Eddie didn’t mind, he enjoyed the company. Especially since living alone got, well, lonely. So he made sure to soak up every moment he could get with his Losers. 

Eddie’s resting bitch face was washed out and replaced by a genuinely happy smile. “Marsh! How’s it hanging?” Eddie said in his best surfer bro voice. 

“It’s totally tubular,” She said, followed by a laugh. “How’s your place? No power?” She asked as she put down the bag she was holding and crossed her yard and onto Eddie’s. 

“Yeah, and my yard is a fucking mess. Don’t even get me started on the pool,” Eddie groaned at the thought.

A smug smile spread over Beverly’s lips, “It’s the days like these when I’m grateful I don’t have a pool. Can’t you just get the pool guys to come and clean it?” She questions. 

“I would but it’d cost me an arm and a leg. I’m just gonna clean then get someone to refill it. It’ll be fine,” He sighed. Eddie was gonna ask if she wanted to help but he lost his chance when Beverly’s aunt came outside. 

“Beverly! Oh, Hi Eddie. How are you doing?” She smiled at him. Beverly’s aunt Katherine was always nice to Eddie, she always helped him whenever he needed it, cooking meals and helping with bills. She was pretty great. 

“As good as I can be after a storm like this, crazy isn’t it?” He nods his head. 

“It really is, on that note, Bev, we should be getting back to work,” She said as Bev nodded. 

“I’ll see you later Eddie. Let me know if you get ahold of the rest of our rat pack, alright?” She winked as she slowly began to back away. 

“Yes ma’am!” Eddie saluted and returned to the backyard. 

He sighed. “No better time than the present, am I right?” He asked himself as he picked up the big net that was propped against the porch, then walked towards the pool.

The water had turned a dark green-grey. It didn’t smell too bad, which was a blessing as Eddie has a sensitive stomach and wasn’t in the mood of adding barf to his list of things to clean. He swept the net over the surface of the water for a couple minutes before noticing how there were a lot bigger pieces of debris than he had realized. 

_Looks like we gotta break out the big guns_ , Eddie left the net on the side of the pool and went to grab some rubber gloves and one of his big grey garbage cans. He stood at the edge of the pool and stared down at the water below him. It was different when he had the net, he barely had to lean over the edge, but now he was worried about falling in. _What if I lean in, fall, and drown, or get knocked unconscious and die?_ Eddie calmed his breathing down before it got a chance to pick up. 

“Okay, Eddie, you’re fine,” He let out a shaky breath. He ended up laying down on the pavement, flat on his stomach and stuck his arms over the edge, not daring to let anything below his neck hang over the edge of the pool. Slowly but surely he dragged most of the debris out and onto the pavement, which would then be put into the garbage, but right now he just needed to get everything out of the pool. Amongst the trash and green life he found in the water, he also fished out a pair of glasses, although they didn’t seem like normal glasses. First off, they were pretty big, but the lenses seemed oddly fogged and thick. Reminding Eddie of the sea glass he’s collected over the years of living on the coast. He set them aside and made a note to investigate them further once he was done here. 

After a couple of hours of hard work, Eddie stood over the pool and admired all of his hard work. Sure there was still a bunch of shit at the bottom of the pool, but he agreed to clean that out once the pool had been emptied. There had been a particular pile of debris off in the corner that caught Eddie’s eye. It seemed to be a pile-up of plants and what looked to be a fishing net. He walked over to that side of the pool and squinted down at the trash. Something was dimly shining beneath the pile of soggy algae that covered it. 

_Maybe a fish got washed into the pool? Hm, poor dude,_ Eddie shrugged, about to walk away when the pile twitched ever so slightly, Eddie could have convinced himself he was seeing things, but something was telling him he wasn’t. Determined to see what it was, Eddie quickly grabbed the net and poked the pile of debris. He shied away after the first poke, then moved to poke it again. It twitched again. Eddie’s brow furrowed as he poked it again, a little harder this time. This time it shifted positions, allowing Eddie to see a little bit more of the creature that sat at the bottom of his pool. 

The shine came from scales, and there were a lot of them. _How big is this fucking fish? Oh shit- do I have a shark in my pool?! No dumbass, sharks don’t have scales…_

Instead of poking it again, Eddie used the butt end of the net to try to move the debris off of the creature. He was able to push most of the algae aside, but the creature must’ve been tangled up in that damned net. The creature might not have been 100% visible, but he had a better view of it now. 

“Is that? No way…” Eddie began to speak to himself as he examined the creature. “That can’t be...” He said as he examined the part of the creature that looked like it had hair. Well whatever it had that looked like hair, it was inky black, it slowly swayed around- _A HEAD?_ “WHAT THE FUCK!” Eddie shrieked as he began to stumble backwards. He stammered and wobbled. But suddenly, one of the bricks that lined the pool gave out beneath him, and he fell forwards. He fell into the pool with a big splash. 

He didn’t even have time to think, his mind was overtaken by panic. Eddie thrashed and splashed, he tried to pull himself to the surface but the water was blurring his vision, making it impossible to tell which way was up. He barely had time to take in any air as he was randomly tossed into the pool. So his lungs ached and his head throbbed. He wanted to scream out for help or stop moving just for a second, in hopes that’d he just float to the surface. But he couldn’t stop, his legs kicked wildly in the water, his shoes heavy on his feet and his clothes constricting his movement. 

He was too busy thinking about his own death to notice the pair of arms that’d wrapped around his waist. Eddie’s lungs began to _burn_ , they begged for air, but Eddie knew that he was _not_ going to let his mouth open. He refused to die the same death that his parents had. With that, his vision began to blur more than it already was. His mind hazed over and his thrashing minimized. His vision was dotted with black spots, due to lack of oxygen. 

_I’m gonna die_. 

~

Suddenly he was gasping for air. His lungs heaved as he spat up water and tried to breathe in as much air as he could. He rubbed the water out of his eyes. It took a moment for his gaze to clear, but once he did he realized he was sitting on the edge of the pool, his clothes soaked and his hair filled with leaves and dirt. 

_What the fuck happened? How did I get here?_ The questions overloaded Eddie’s mind as his breathing quickened, there was so much going on, _too much_. 

The water beside him splashed, a light spray of water settled on him. He hesitantly looked over, hoping to see nothing, that he had dreamt it all up. But when he turned his head, he saw something drifting slowly towards him in the water. He hadn’t failed to notice how murkey the water had gotten. It’s green tinge now brown, and a little red. He didn’t even let himself think about what made it red. Eddie panicked and jackknifed, hastily shuffling backwards and away from the water. 

Eddie’s eyes were as wide as saucers, his eyebrows practically in his hairline. His breathing practically stopped as he watched the black hair he’d seen previously slowly poke up out of the water. Eddie wanted to get up and run, call the cops, _something_ , but he couldn’t. He was frozen in fear and anticipation. He couldn’t help that little bit of wonder that filled his head as the creature continued to come up from the waters’ surface. 

He watched as the head moved up just enough to reveal a pair of impossibly blue eyes. They stared back at him, partially covered by the black hair hanging in its face. Something about the eyes seemed hazy, almost as if they weren’t clear, they squinted for a moment before opening up wide again. 

Eddie could only muster a weak “hi,” as he stared at the creature before him. The blue eyes rolled and bubbles erupted in front of him. The head sunk back down into the water.

A splash caused Eddie to tear his eyes away from where the head once was, and look up. Further down in the pool he watched as a fish like tail splashed against the surface of the water. Half of its fin was covered in the fishing net. The rope digging into the scales. Eddie finally saw what was the cause of the red in the water. The net had various hooks still attached to it. They dug into the scales of the tail, causing it to leak red blood. Eddie’s stomach dropped. 

The tail splashed against the surface of the water again. It acted as a reality check for Eddie as he finally mustered the strength to stand up. Once he was on his feet, he wobbled momentarily before marching towards his porch. He didn’t look back as he closed his patio door. He kept walking until he was in his bathroom. 

He turned on the shower and waited until it filled the small room with steam. The boiling water practically burned all the dirt off of his skin. He was too caught up in his own thoughts to even realize he began thinking out loud. 

“There’s someone in my pool,” He started, his voice distant, “And a fish. A massive fucking fish.” He thought about the mess of hair he’d seen at the bottom of the pool. “No one can survive being underwater that long… No one, but not nothing.”

 _What if it wasn’t two things in my pool…_

He contemplated the idea for a second, “BUT THEY DON’T EXIST!” Eddie shouted in frustration, thrusting his fist against the ceramic wall of his shower. So many ideas floated through Eddie’s head, he hated it, he hated not knowing what was in his pool. And he hated the fact that the only idea that made semi sense, was that he had a fucking mermaid in his pool. 

“But they’re made-up. Stories, fairytailes. _Not real life,_ ” He countered, recalling movies like The Little Mermaid and Aquamarine. “But what else explains the tail?” He asked himself in defeat. 

Eddie turned the water to the shower off. His skin was red and raw, he could practically see the steam coming off of himself. He rested his forehead against the wall of his shower and tried to clear his head. _In and out… In and out_ , he reminded himself as he took a couple minutes to just _breathe_. 

After the hurricane in his head finally calmed down, he allowed himself to think back to what he’d seen outside. Careful to not open the dam of memories, he focused on the tail, the head, the water, _the blood_. 

_The poor thing is hurt_ , Eddie sharply inhaled. “Shit…” He recalled the net, and how it dug into the creature's tail. He shivered at the thought of what it must be going through. Then he remembered why he took the shower in the first place, he fell into the pool, and that fish thing, it saved him.

With a new game plan, Eddie finished up in the bathroom, got dressed, then got his fist aid kit and all the other supplies he needed. He went back outside, the sun beating down over his head as he stood on his patio and surveyed his backyard. A new level of determination filled the human. He was intrigued to find out what the hell was in his pool, and this was the best way he could find that out. 

He marched down and to the water’s edge, but all the bravery he had mustered died the moment he saw the creature floating on its front at the edge of Eddie’s pool. 

He raised his hands to cover his mouth, his eyes wide, “Fuck,” he cursed. His mind automatically assumed the worst, _death_. But he tried to mentally assure himself that it had just passed out as he didn’t want to panic.

Eddie got down on his knees and carefully leaned over to grab the creature. He held his breath, worried about falling in, but he was able to pull the creature to the edge of the pool. He pushed it over onto its back. He wanted to inspect its face and features but Eddie needed to get him out of the water before those cuts got infected. 

Quickly, Eddie laid a towel down on the pavement beside the pool, worried about what the heat of the ground would do to the fish’s scales. When it came time to pulling the thing out of the water, he hadn’t thought about how much that fucking tale would weigh. He hooked his arms under the arms of the creature and tried to pull him out. He heaved and tugged. 

“Holy shit- you’re _so_ fucking heavy,” Eddie gasped, _half way there_ , he thought to himself. All of the human part was out, and half of the tail, now all he had left was the rest of the tail and the monofin. Eddie took in one sharp inhale before he pulled the rest of it out in one final tug. He gasped as he suddenly landed on his back, the fish flopped down onto the towel beside him. 

Eddie didn’t take too long to recover, he was too interested in seeing what exactly he had just fished out of his swimming pool. He sat on his knees and surveyed the creature that laid uncious before him. 

It was indeed, a mermaid. 

The upper half of its body was made of pasty white skin, as smooth as a shark's skin. It shined in the afternoon sunlight. Its arms were long and fairly skinny with a little muscles. Eddie carefully lifted up one of its hands. He inspected it, noticing how there was an almost translucent webbing that connected his long and bony fingers. Then he let out a small gasp at the claws that laid at the edges of his fingers. They looked sharp, one swipe would surely draw blood. With that, he carefully laid the hand back down by its side. 

Eddie leaned forward a little to examine the creature's face. He lifted a hand, gently pushing some of the soggy hair out of his face. He frowned at the slash that ran across its cheeks, cutting through a wild pack of freckles. His pale skin allowed the freckles on his cheeks to shine like stars on a clear night. Eddie thought about counting them, like he had the stars, but he opted not to as he knew he had more pressing tasks at hand. He took one last glance at the face, allowing himself to soak in the mermaid's features in all its beauty. Yes, _beauty._ Even Eddie couldn’t deny it, the creature was fairly beautiful. But now isn't the time for crushes, Eddie shook his head as he finally made his way down to the tale. 

Eddie examined its chest. It was fairly skinny, not malnourished, as in he could slightly see his ribs, but it wasn't too concerning. He noticed a couple bruises and various scrapes that would need to be disinfected. He followed the pale skin down. Suddenly Eddie’s brows furrowed together. The creature had no belly button. But if he had, then the scales would have started just below it. 

Now without the water blurring their colour, he was able to see the scales in all their glory. They were a pastel blue, some places darker than others, the shades varying as the tail continued. The tip of its monofin shined a sparkly silver that could give the real stuff a run for its money.

Finally, he got to his feet and overlooked all of the creature’s injuries. Sure he had some scraps, cuts and bruises along the upper part of its body, but its tail got the worst of it. The net was tangled up in its monofin and dug into its scales, causing some of them to flake off. 

He raked his hands through his hair, tugging at the ends. “Fuck,” he sighed, realizing how much work he had to do. Without wasting any more time, he leaned over to the abundance of supplies he’d brought outside and grabbed the exacto knife to cut the net. Just as the blade popped out and Eddie leaned in, something cold and slimy grabbed his wrist. His body went cold, head snapping towards the mermaids. His eyes locked with the fish’s. The blues of his eyes were wide and determined. Eddie looked down and realized it was the hand with the knife. Quickly he grabbed the knife with his free hand and tossed it to the side. 

“Hey-Hey, it’s okay,” Eddie motioned his hands to show that they were empty and he meant no harm. Only then did the creature release Eddie’s hand, his head flopping back against the towel. Eddie leaned over and saw that its eyes were still open, but they were hazed, almost unfocused. Eddie didn’t think too much of it, probably the salt water making him go blind or something. 

“Okay, I’m just gonna try to remove the net, alright?” He asked, but received no response. He leaned back over and pulled his bifocals out of his second fanny pack, then leaned back in and began examining the net. 

The mermaid’s head tilted upwards, it watched the human’s fingers traced along the edges of the net. Its eyes grew wide at the sight of the spectacles on Eddie’s face. 

Eddie noticed the movement and glanced over at the creature. He hummed lightly, wondering what it was looking at. The moment didn’t last too long as when Eddie leaned away from the tail, the creature lunged at him. Its arms out and claws sharp, its eyes filled with determination. Eddie shrieked and fell backwards, his hands flew up to his face. 

After a moment of heavy breathing, he realized he felt no pain. He slowly moved his shaky hands away from his face and looked up at the mermaid. He was surprised to see it carefully holding his bifocals. 

It held it in his hands as if they were so fragile they’d break. The creature slid them onto his face as if it was a second nature. The blue eyes blinked a couple times before its face scrunched up in confusion. It took the glasses off and held them once again in its hands. Now its face was filled with disbelief and worry. 

“What?” Eddie asked, unsure of what was happening. 

The creature looked up at the human with sad, hazy eyes. For a moment they just held eye contact, as if they were having a conversation with their eyes in a language Eddie didn’t understand. Then the creature held the glasses out towards Eddie with one hand, while the other pointed towards its own chest. 

Eddie’s face scrunched up, he hated charades. “What about the glasses?”. 

The creature pointed to itself once again. 

“Your glasses?” Eddie suggested, and the blue eyes widened to an impossible size. A new emotion spread over the fish’s face, excitement. “Yeah?” Eddie asked, and nodded. “Yeah!” Eddie said happily. “Yeah…” he repeated, this time with fear laced in his voice as he had no clue where its glasses were. 

_Since when do mermaids wear glasses anyways? What the fuck?_

“Wait- You can understand me?” It finally dawned on Eddie, he’d been talking to a mermaid, and it was responding… technically. 

Its eyebrows lowered and their glare became sharp, as if to say ‘ _Yeah, so?_ ’, followed by a slow nod. Now it had used its free arm to prop itself up on it’s elbow so they were almost at eye level. 

Eddie smiled softly at the fish, his cheeks a little warmer than they were before. He nervously chuckled, “Oh, cool”. He rubbed the back of his neck, diverting his gaze around the backyard so he didn’t have to stare into those ocean eyes any longer. His sight landed on the pile of trash he said he’d sort through later that laid on his lawn and he noticed a piece of glass that shined in the light. 

Eddie gasped, he jumped from his sitting position up to his feet and ran to his pile of trash. He snatched the object up off of the lawn and ran back to the mermaid, practically falling down beside it. Eddie got situated on the ground, a wide smile on his face. He held them and carefully opened them up, without any further wait, he leaned in and slid the glasses on the mermaid's face. 

The fish was confused at first, unsure of how to feel about the human being so close. But the small boy didn’t give it much of a chance to react because before he could flinch, his vision cleared. Its hands moved up to its face and felt around, touching the glasses that they knew all too well. 

Finally being able to see clearly, it looked up at the boy in front of it. Its lips curved into a wide smile that got a little giggle out of the human. 

“So I guess those are yours?” Eddie asks. 

The mermaid nods proudly. The moment is cut short when a bolt of pain cuts through the fish’s tail, it grimaces and hisses.

Eddie tenses at the sound, “Oh shit! Sorry, but can I _please_ use the knife?” He beged, eyes wide and worried. 

The mermaid lies back down on the towel, eyes forced shut. It nods. 

_Okay, okay, okay_ . Eddie’s thoughts pick up at the thought of being so close to the creature. Not because it’s like- cute or anything, _no_ , it’s because he doesn't want to hurt it. _Yeah, that’s why_. 

Eddie gripped the exacto knife with enough strength to make his knuckles go white. His eyes skimmed over the net, deciding on where to cut. He found a spot he claimed to be a good start and began cutting. He sliced the net up and into pieces, slowly freeing the tail from its grasp. Soon enough he was just left with the pieces that had the hooks attached to them. 

“Sorry this is gonna hurt,” Eddie said before he carefully pulled the fist hook loose. The fish’s breathing hitched and filled with pain. “ _Sorry!”_ Eddie grimaced as he pulled another one out. This one leaked a lot more blood and the mermaids hand smacked around the ground, causing Eddie to jump at the sudden sound. It felt like it took hours to fully free the tail, but soon enough the deed was done. 

Eddie leaned back on his hands and tilted his head up towards the sun. “I’m sorry,” he breathed before looking back down at the mermaid. It sat upright now, carefully examining its tail. It reached out to touch one of the cuts. Eddie jumped into action and slapped the hand away. It hissed at Eddie. “Hey! Don’t do that, I’ve still gotta disinfect them, okay?” His tone grew impatient as he cracked open the first aid kit. 

His back began to ache from the hours he’d spent hunched over the blue tail, disinfecting the scrapes and bandaging the deeper cuts. He moved on to the upper half of the creature. 

“Tell me if this hurts, okay?” Eddie requested as the mermaid gave him a side eye look. Eddie began to slowly put pressure on different places on the fish’s chest, mainly the places with the bruises to see if- The mermaid let out a loud hiss. Eddie’s hands shot up and away as its claws came into view again. “Sorry! You have an injured rib, so that’s why it hurts. You won’t be able to move much until it heals,” Eddie explained, his mind going through the healing process when he realized it won’t be able to swim in this condition, and it certainly can’t stay on land in Eddie’s backyard. 

“Oh…” Eddie’s graze dropped, a sudden wave of fatigue washed over him as he realized what he’s gonna have to do. But before he allowed himself to think over the idea too much, he finished cleaning all of the cuts that needed it. 

“O-Okay, so I-um.... I can’t leave you here, and I can’t bring you back to the ocean cause you’re hurt and you need to properly heal. So i’m gonna bring you into my house and keep you in my bathtub, okay?” He rambled in hopes the creature understood what he was saying. _God, I sound fucking insane. This is insane! I can’t keep an oversized goldfish in my tub. But I can’t leave him out here… the pool guys are coming tomorrow and if they see him we’d be in so much shit- It’s the only way_ . Eddie finalized his plan with a sigh. 

“You,” he pointed at the creature, “stay,” he demanded before he got up and went back inside. He ran upstairs and into the bathroom, flopped down beside the big bathtub, and began running the water. He set the temperature to warm then took a moment to catch his breath. 

Everything began to settle in. The mermaid, the scales, the storm, the future, the creature’s eyes, its freckles- _Okay, Eddie stop it. It’s a fucking sea creature, you can’t have a crush on it_. He huffed and rolled his eyes at his gay thoughts. Eddie’s been out for a couple months now, to his mother's dismay, and he’s been happy. Sure he’s had a couple crushes before, but he’s never had one on a fish person… So he wasn't too sure what to think of that. 

The white noise created by the running water created a soothing atmosphere for the boy, and for a moment, he sat in silence and just _breathed_. Though the moment was short lived, a low whale-like sound erupted from his stomach, reminding him about the fact that he hasn't had lunch yet. He looked down at his watch and saw it was already 3 pm. 

_Holy shit, time flies when you're with a merman. If I’m hungry then imagine what it must be feeling, when was the last time it ate? What does it eat? Do I have anything to feed it? Okay let’s just focus on getting it inside first- Also? Finding a fucking name for this thing, I can’t keep calling it, well, IT!_

Eddie shook all of the static out of his head and pulled himself to his feet. He turned the knob to the bathtub and turned the water off, he hoped the temperature would suffice, he’d find out soon enough. 

Going back to the mermaid in his backyard, he found it in the same place he left it, which was a relief. Still on its back, with an arm on its forehead to shade its eyes from the blaring afternoon sun. It sensed the human before he approached. It moved its arm and tilted its head to look up at the towering figure. 

“Hi again, so I need to pick you up to bring you inside. So you don't… die. Is that okay?” Eddie asked awkwardly. The creature simply shrugged, as if to say ‘Do what you need’. “Okay, _well_ , you need to help me out cause you weigh a fucking ton and I am not strong. So wrap your arms around my neck and don’t-don’t fucking eat me,” Eddie instructed as he got down on his knees, bracing himself for the weight he’d soon carry. 

The mermaid sat up. Eddie moved his hands underneath the tail, he didn’t wait for the mer to move its arms because he knew if he waited any longer he’d convince himself not to. So he sharply inhaled and lifted the mermaid up bridal style. He wobbled slightly as he gained his balance on his feet. The wobble sent a shiver down the mer’s spine, he jumped to wrap its arms around Eddie’s neck in fear of being dropped. 

The sudden motion made Eddie smirk. “Oh, _now_ you do it,” he forced a small laugh. Eddie began to walk forward towards the house, each step harder than the last. 

When they got to the stairs, Eddie’s breath hitched when he went up the first stair, his arms almost gave out from beneath him. 

The mermaid shook and buried its face in the crook of Eddie’s neck. Eddie felt the glasses dig into his neck. With the sudden change of proximities, the mer’s breath sent shivers down Eddie’s back, it was slow and warm. 

The muscles in his arms burned before he even started up the staircase to the second flood. “Fuck… me,” Eddie murmed, as if it was going to take away the fiery pain that ran through his body. 

Eddie was practically dragging his feet as he walked, unable to bring them up from the ground. His vision was set on the staircase in front of him, so he didn’t notice the one floorboard that was slightly higher than the others. The toe of his foot collided with the floorboard and they went toppling forward, hitting the floor with a big _thump_. 

The creature let out a ear bleeding shriek as it fell, then pain erupted from its tail as it landed on the ground. Certainly the extra weight of a human on its torso didn’t help at all. 

Eddie was in shock for a moment, unsure of what had just happened. Looking around he turned and saw he was now face to face with the mermaid. Their eyes locked, both of them wild and concerned. Eddie snapped himself back into reality before he could get lost in the ocean eyes again. 

“I-I’m sorry. _Shit_ , I’m so sorry,” Eddie stammered, his body weak and his arms aching. He rolled off the creature and onto his back. “I’m sorry,” He croaked, the failure settling in. 

He didn’t move his gaze from the ceiling over his head. He didn’t want the mer to see his eyes as they filled with tears. Something cold rested on top of Eddie’s hand. Hesitantly, he dragged his eyes over to the creature beside him. The hand held onto his own as the mermaid’s lips offered a tight but comforting smile, as if to say, _it’s okay, really_. Eddie shifted his hand ever so slightly so the mer’s hand fit more comfortably in his. The webbing that lined the fingers of the mermaid’s hand tickled Eddie’s. Its thumb rubbed slow circles over Eddie’s knuckles. 

“A-Are you okay?” Eddie whispered worriedly. 

The creature was in pain, for sure, but it nodded anyways, for the human’s sake. 

Neither of them were sure how long they stayed like that, hand in hand, breathing laboured and heavy, eyes on the ceiling. Although at some point Eddie’s arms felt a smidge better, and his breathing had returned. That’s when he knew he had to try again. 

“1....2...3!” Eddie lifted the mermaid off the ground again. It seemed just a little easier than last time. This time he kept his breathing steady, and kept his eyes going from the stairs in front of him to his goal, the bathroom. 

Once they stood in the middle of the upstairs hallway, Eddie took a minute and stood and caught his breath. He noticed the way the mer’s eyes drifted and examined his new surroundings. But something caught his eye and Eddie felt one of the arms slowly move away from his neck. Hesitantly he turned his head just in time to see the clawed hand reaching out for Eddie’s own little creature that sat in a fish tank that lined the hallway. It was his pet betta fish, Goldy. (He wasn't a creative kid, okay?).

“NO!” Eddie exclaimed, almost dropping the mermaid again. The sudden motion caused the arm to wrap back around Eddie’s neck in fear of being dropped. “Do _not_ eat my goldfish. She is a friend, not fucking food,” he practially growled. 

The creature shrank away, not a fan of the tone Eddie had gained. As much as it wanted to lean _away_ from the boy who just scolded him, it leaned _into_ Eddie, it liked the warmth his skin gave off. It curled a little deeper into his touch, putting his chin on top of his shoulder and nestling into the side of his face. 

Eddie got the mermaid settled into the bathtub and immediately noticed a change in its mood. Suddenly its eyes had a new sparkle to them and his lips were always semi smiling. 

Eddie sat on the closed toilet seat and took in the sight before him. _A mermaid in my bathtub… This’ll be one hell of a diary entry_ . “So! I-er, I hope this isn’t rude, but are you a girl or a boy? I know you don’t have boobs but I really don’t know how this whole _mermaid_ thing works,” Eddie stopped himself before he kept rambling. 

The mer lifted two fingers in the air. _Two, second, second option._ “Boy?” Eddie tilted his head. The creature nodded. He sighed in relief, “Good, good… I-I’m Eddie by the way.” The creature nodded again then ducked his head down into the water and blew bubbles up at the human. Eddie huffed in amusement at the gesture. 

The human’s stomach rumbled again. He rolled his eyes in response. He didn’t even bother telling the mermaid- merman? Merman. He didn’t bother telling him he was gonna leave cause the mer looked like he was having the time of his life blowing bubbles down under. Once he was in the kitchen, Eddie tried to be quick, opening up every cupboard and checking everywhere for food fit for a fish. The only thing he came across that seemed semi-suitable were fish sticks. Eddie eyed them for about half a minute before ripping the bag open, throwing them into a container then shoving it in the microwave. He made himself a quick sandwich, cheese and ketchup (That was the most unhealthy food Sonia ever let Eddie eat so let him be). He’d barley chewed his first bit before the microwave beeped. He held the sandwich in between his lips and held the container with both hands, moving it between the two cause it was hot. 

Once he was back in the bathroom he took his seat back down on the toilet seat and set the container on his lap. Eddie quickly ate his sandwich, only when he looked up did he notice the merman’s eyes were sitting out of the water, watching him like a hawk from behind his sea glasses. 

“Hungry?” Eddie asked as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. 

The merman lifted the rest of his head out of the water at the sight of the food. Eddie held up a fish stick, “Okay, I know this is like processed shit but,” he sighed, tired of all the talking and manual labour he’s been doing, “It’s all I have.”

The mer shrugged and opened his mouth, asking Eddie to feed him. The human was taken aback at the gesture, but he gave in and picked up a fish stick, tearing a bite-sized chunk off. Eddie leaned forward and held it out just in front of the mer’s face. Its lips felt soft against the human skin as it took the food from him. It gulped it down happily then opened his mouth up again. The fish finished the whole container. 

He opened his mouth again and Eddie scoffed, “I’m all out fish boy! I guess I’ll go get some stuff tomorrow,” Eddie motioned to the empty container. The fish let out a low grumble as he sunk back under the water and blew bubbles at Eddie, as if showing attitude.

“Oh shut it trashmouth,” Eddie retorted, the nickname just slipped out. 

The water sloshed against the side of the tub as his eyes burst back out of the water. 

Eddie let out a nervous laugh at the sudden movement, “W-What? You like that, _trashmouth?_ ” Eddie said in a teasing manner. The mer’s lips smirked from underwater. The sight brightened Eddie’s smile. 

“Well, _trashmouth,_ I have no clue what time it is but I’m tired as fuck. I’m gonna go to sleep. You should too, so you can heal,” Eddie advised. He stood, took a step towards the tub and ruffled the fish’s hair. The mer leaned into the touch, the both of them enjoyed the physical attention.

**Word count: 7604**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked the first chapter! Let me know what you think in the comments.  
> I will see you guys next week with chapter 2, Sushi and Speeches.  
> Until then,  
> So Long And Goodnight.


	2. Sushi And Speeches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie goes shopping for food with Bev and Bill, then washes the mer’s tangled hair

The next morning Eddie woke up to the sound of the doorbell echoing through the quiet house. His eyes fluttered open as they drifted over to his alarm clock. 11:00am,  _ holly shit i never fucking sleep in this much _ , Eddie wondered why for only a split second, before the memories of the day prior resufaced. “ _ The merman… _ ” Eddie spoke aloud, his eyes wide with realization. 

Hastily, he threw his legs over the side of his bed and stumbled out of his room and into the bathroom. He slammed himself against the door and opened it up wide. 

The merman had been slouched over in the tub, head underwater. He jerked his head out of the water after the sudden bang against the door. Breathing heavily, mind still hazed by sleep, he watched as the small human, Eddie, shuffled inside. He rolled his eyes at the sight, relieved that it wasn’t a threat. 

“It’s just me don’t worry” Eddie’s voice was groggy and tired as he waved off the merman’s worries. “I-uh, just wanted to make sure you were okay-” The doorbell rang again, Eddie stiffened, “Sorry I’ve gotta get this but please- stay here,” Eddie begged before leaving the room. 

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Eddie rambled as he unlocked the front door. He swung it open to reveal not just one of the Losers, but two. “Ohmygod- Hey guys!” Eddie’s mood brightened. 

Bill and Beverly both stood on Eddie’s front porch. “Hey Eddie, what’s up?” Bev smiled. Eddie moved aside, allowing his friends to come inside. The three settled into their normal seats in Eddie’s family room. Eddie and Bill on the bigger couch will Bev laid horizontally on the armchair. 

“H-Hows the clean up go-going?” Bill asked as he stretched his hands, sore from the previous day of manual labour. 

“It fucking sucks! It’s so gross. What about you guys?” Eddie stopped himself before he started ranting about all the weird shit he’s found in his pool.

“My aunt and I got most of the stuff cleaned up but now there’s a leak in the roof, so we’ve gotta wait for the maintenance guy to come and patch it up, ” she explained. 

Eddie nodded, then asked, “Bill? How’s Georgie?”

“T-Tired, he hu-hates thunder. The tree in the f-front yard lost a ma-masive branch. My parents told me to go get gru-groceries today,” Bill pulled out a list from his pocket, “Wanna join?” He inquired. 

“Yeah, Big Bill and I were gonna go into town and get some supplies, we were wondering if you wanted in?” Beverly raised her eyebrows at him.

“That’d be great actually,” The mental image of the  _ guest  _ in his bathtub caused him to realize how much he needed to restock his pantry, “Yeah, I need to stock up,” Eddie concluded. 

The shorter boy glanced down at the pajamas that he wore then back up at his friends, “Let me go get changed then we can head out. Oh, don’t use the upstairs bathroom the toilet… broke,” Eddie lied, but the others didn’t notice. He had a bathroom on the main floor that worked perfectly fine and had no mythical creature hiding in it that they could use.

Eddie checked on the merman one more time and informed him of the recent developments before he got ready and left. Eddie called shotgun as they walked down his driveway, towards Bill’s red Toyota Corolla, Bev rolled her eyes as she hopped into the back. And they were off to the store. 

The trio decided on going to Walmart first as it had most of the things they needed. Eddie walked along the aisle with Bill who pushed the cart, and Bev who rode on the front with her phone in hand, she was scrolling through her list, calling out items she needed for Eddie to put into the cart.

They were about to roll past the fish freezers, when Eddie stopped and signaled for the others so to follow him. “Eddie f-fish? Really?” Bill questions as he turns the kart, Bev hopped off to stand beside Eddie as they observed the fish in the ice below them. 

“Yeah, so?” Eddie’s tone is more defensive than he would prefer, but he needs to feed his trashmouth and fish seemed like the most logical food to buy for something that lived in the ocean. Eddie worried about giving him human food, so he decided to start with the fish then maybe test the waters with something like bread, once the mer regained his hunger. 

“Nothing, it’s just every time I ever offered you sushi during lunch you always talked about your hatred for fish,” Bev recalls a memory from when they were in highschool. 

He gestured for the guy behind the counter to wrap up two of the full salmons, “Well, people change,” Eddie shrugs. He smiled as he was handed the wrapped fish. 

“So what was everyone else up to today?” Eddie changed the subject onto the other Losers. 

“Mike’s on f-farm duty. They had to help f-find one of the sheep that got loose during the st-storm. S-Stan had to work,” Bill explained while he looked over the continents inside of one of the many freezers. 

“And Ben’s mom needed help cleaning. OH! And remember his neighbour with that old ass maple tree?” Eddie nodded as Bev continued, “It fell during the storm, broke an upstairs window. Ben’s mom is  _ pissed, _ ” Bev says with a faint smirk playing over her lips. 

~

Bill pulled up onto their street and Bev was talking about some of the new clothes she was making with one of her old dresses when Eddie remembered he wanted to buy a shirt for the merman. 

“Shit,” he mumbled under his breath. 

“Hm? What? Tired of hearing me talk about fashion?” Bev asked curiously. 

Eddie shook his head. “Oh  _ no _ , I love hearing about the difference between cotton and polyester. I just remembered I wanted to look at some new shirts while we were out. You don’t have any old big shirts do you?” Eddie asked. He would just lend one of his shirts to the fish, but he was at least 2 sizes larger than Eddie. 

“Maybe?” Bev cocked an eyebrow, “why?”

Eddie blurted the first thing that came to mind. “Growth spurt”

Bill scoffed, which earned him a back hand slap on his arm. 

“I can grow!”.

Bill smirked as he took the key out of the ignition. “Eddie you’re n-nineteen, I think you’re a-a little too old for growth spurts.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered,” Bev put a reassuring hand on Eddie’s shoulder. 

“Thank you,  _ Beverly,”  _ Eddie made sure to eye Bill as he thanked Bev. 

~

**Derry’s resident Badass** : Left the shirt in the mailbox for you! Enjoy

Eddie read the text from Bev. He finished putting away all of the perishable items before checking his mailbox. Inside he found a light pink T-shirt. It looked pretty normal until he held it up and saw there were two seashell decals on the chest, trying to mimic Ariel’s iconic shell bra.  _ Oh Beverly…. _ Eddie smirked at the shirt, recalling the times she’d worn this shirt to sleepovers, it always rode halfway down her thighs. He chuckled at the mental image of the trashmouth wearing this shirt. 

Eddie ended up deboning one of the salmon's he bought, which proved itself to be much harder then they make it seem on Master Chief. After he proceeded to chop it into bite-sized pieces. He contemplated cooking the fish but opted not to as he can't imagine any way a merman would have cooked fish underwater. Once he was back in the bathroom, he took his usual seat on the closed toilet. 

The merman’s head was leaning against the back of the tub, silently napping. Eddie admired his raw beauty and sharp features. He looked very at ease, his lips slightly parted and moving ever so slightly as his chest rose and fell with every breath. A small smile crept onto Eddie's face before it turned into a devilish grin. He held the container of food with one hand while the other slid into the water, with one swift notion he sent a small splash of water up and onto the merman’s face. 

He woke with a startle, his glasses fell from his face with the sudden motion. The calm expression on his face turned to confusion as he scanned the room and realized everything was blurry. His breath now quick as his gaze landed on Eddie who was cracking up. He scowled while he slid his glasses back on.

“Oh come on trashmouth! God you're no fun,” Eddie nagged. 

The Mer crossed his arms over his chest (ignoring the subtle pain it created) and stuck his tongue in protest. 

Eddie only rolled his eyes before getting to what he'd brought. “So I wasn’t sure what you ate so I bought you fish. Is that okay?” He looked to the merman for help. He stared at Eddie blankly before his brow furrowed and he held out his arms and made a grasping motion with his hands. Like a baby asking for its bottle. 

“What? You wanna do it yourself?” Eddie asked, a little shocked by his sudden desire for independence. Although he would be sad he'd never feel those soft lips against his hand anymore… He shrugged it off. “OKay…” Eddie hesitated only for a moment before handing it over to the merman. 

He mirrored Eddie in the way he held it. Once he was sure he had a steady grasp over the container, he moved a hand to take a piece of fish out and popped it into his mouth. The merman chewed then proceeded to swallow it. He popped another piece into his mouth, chewed then gave Eddie a grateful smile with a mouth full of fish.

Eddie nearly gagged. “EW! Don’t do that trashmouth,” he grimaced, but his voice was filled with amusement as the fish closed his mouth, but kept the smile. 

Later that day the cleaners came for the pool. Eddie greeted them in the driveway and led them into his backyard. He explained what he needed done as he stood a couple feet away from the edge of the pool. The main cleaner talked about prices as Eddie scanned the pool. 

There was still so much shit at the bottom, he was excited to see it gone. But something shiny caught his eye on the ground. He blinked and focused on the little blue scales that sat about a foot away from the pool. Eddie tried to keep calm as he realized there were the merman’s scales.

_ Shit, I can’t let these guys see those, even if they are just scales. I cannot let anyone find out about him _ . 

Eddie continued the conversation he was having with the head cleaner as he took a step towards the pool, placing his foot right beside the scales, blocking them from the cleaner’s view. 

“We should be done in a couple hours or so,” he explained. 

Eddie nodded in understanding, then he kneeled down beside the edge. “Okay good.” He placed his hand over the scales but kept his gaze on the pool. “The sooner it’s cleaned means the sooner I get to keep practicing. I’m planning on joining my school’s swim team,” Eddie lied. He picked up the scales and slid them into his pocket as he stood up. 

“Oh! Well good luck with that,” The cleaner smiled. Once everything was discussed, Eddie left them to do their job. He patted the scales in his pocket as he walked back towards the house, a faint smile played across his lips. 

~

The next day Eddie explained to the merman how his pool was now clean and full of water while he examined all of his injuries which seemed to be healing nicely. 

“If I find an easier way to transport you then maybe one day you can go swimming there.” The merman only shrugged in response. That worried Eddie as he would’ve thought the fish would’ve been dying to get back into the water, as that’s where he lived. 

“A-Are you okay?” Eddie immediately moved his hand to feel the creature's forehead, checking for a fever. It was a little hotter than normal but that could have also been because it was scorching hot outside. Eddie slid his hand from his forehead to ruffle the fish’s black mess of curls, something he grew quite fond of doing. But it didn’t go too far as his fingers got tangled in knots.

“God, how tangled is your hair?” Eddie questioned. The merman responded by raking his hands through his hair, only to be met by the same tangles. He simply shrugged. 

Since he’d been in Eddie’s bathtub for the past couple of days, his hair had been able to completely dry, which left it in long thick curls that dangeled into his face. Eddie didn’t mind, he thought it was kinda cute… But now that he knew how knotted they were, he had to do something about it. 

He sighed and stood up, “Well, I don’t know what you guys are doing down in Atlantis, but you’ve gotta start conditioning your hair.”

The merman’s face scrunched up, unsure of what Eddie was suggesting. He folded his arms over the side of the tub and rested his head on top of them as he watched Eddie go through one of the cabinets in the corner. 

When Eddie returned he brought back a bottle of shampoo, conditioner and a brush. He sat on the ground and placed everything beside him. “Dunk your head underwater,” Eddie instructed. 

The merman didn’t. 

“Come on,” Eddie removed his watch and sunk his hands into the water. 

The merman sunk down a bit but stopped right before wetting his hair, as if he was mocking Eddie. 

“Oh fuck you,” Eddie gasped drmatically. He moved his hands to splash the merman. Just as the water was about to wet his face, he raised a hand and it stopped midair, and formed a perfect bubble of water before him. 

Eddie froze.  _ Did it do that? _ He must’ve taken on a shocked expression as the bubble immediately fell back into the water and the merman’s face turned apologetic, as if he was sorry for frightening the human. 

Something tightened inside Eddie’s chest. The way the merman stopped, just for  _ him _ , made him feel warm… 

“No, no… It’s okay! I just didn’t know you could do that,” Eddie admitted, his face turning a little red as he rubbed the back of his neck. “C-Can you show me again?” Eddie requested shyly.  _ Sure it’s weird and kinda freaky but that doesn't mean I’m not interested. HE HAS FRICKEN SUPER POWERS! _

The merman’s expression softened as a smile tugged at the edges of his lips. This time he pulled a larger bubble of water from the bathtub and held it in the air. With his hand sticking out of the water, he moved his bubble towards him and held it over his head. With the flick of his wrist, the bubble fell over his head, soaking his hair, just like the human had requested. 

Eddie’s eyes filled with wonder, and a little bit of pleasure as the fish boy finally wet his fucking hair. “Cool…”

After the initial shock of the whole superpowers thing settled, Eddie began washing the merman’s hair. First off he squirted a generous amount of shampoo directly onto the mer’s head, then proceeded to massage it into his curls and spread it to cover all of his hair. As he massaged his scalp, the mer released a little moan, obviously enjoying the scalp massage. (Eddie heart raced at the sound of that)

Then Eddie rinsed the suds from his inky black hair and proceeded to add the conditioner. Instead of massaging it in, he grabbed his thick-toothed comb and combed it through. The task took a while as his hair was fairly knotted. 

All of the effort paid off though as once his hair was fully cleaned, Eddie took out the blow dryer. Sure, it spooked the mer at first but once Eddie showed him that it was harmless and only shot out warm air, the merman complied. Though he’s only known Eddie for a couple days now, he’s grown to trust the human, especially considering everything he’s done for him so far. The warm air felt nice on his cold skin, plus he enjoyed how soft hair had become once it was over. He ran his wet fingers through his freshly cleaned locks but was given a light slap from the human, as he claimed, “You’re gonna get your hair wet and gross again.”

The final product left Eddie speechless. The merman’s hair was full of soft curls, they ended just above his neck. The pieces that’d once loosely fell in his face now curled to the side and nicely framed his eyes. 

The merman’s cheeks took on a new shade of pink as he noticed the human’s stare. 

Eddie smiled at his hard work, but he also smiled because of the way the mer glanced away shyly, as if he was a little embarrassed at the sudden gaze on him. Eddie would’ve thought he was cute, maybe even beautiful, but just as the warmth began to spread in his chest, he pushed the feelings.  _ We’re from two different worlds _ . The reminder brought him back to reality. 

“You look nice,” the compliment brought the merman’s gaze back onto Eddie. He gave the human a small nod, as if to say ‘thank you’. 

~

During the span of a week, Eddie had developed a bit of a schedule on how his days would play out. First he’d go say goodmorning to trashmouth and make sure he’s still alive. Then he’d go make them breakfast, he’s been testing out some new recipes for himself, while the mer still ate fish. Actually Eddie’s noticed now that he’s constantly getting food ready for the merman, he’s started putting more thought into his own meals. Which is a step up from frozen meals and cereal that he was used to. Then they’d eat together in the bathroom. Eddie had taken up sitting on the floor so he could be closer to his trashmouth while they ate. Sometimes the fish boy would shoot him curious glances, staring down at Eddie’s food from where he sat in the tub. So Eddie would put a forkful of whatever he had made out in front of the fish and feed him. Eddie was happy to know he could start branching out in his meal planning. Now that he knew human food wouldn’t upset the fish’s stomach. Most days Eddie tried to give the mer a big breakfast so if Eddie needed to leave for any reason, his guest wouldn’t die of hunger.

As much as Eddie wished he could spend his days beside the tub, uncovering every secret the merman held, he knew if he started acting weird, someone was bound to notice. So he kept in contact with his friends, going over to their houses, inviting them over once the backyard was clean. Sadly he’s had to miss two sleepovers as he doesn't trust the fish to be home alone for that long. 

Eddie even moved Goldy’s fish bowl into the bathroom to keep his trashmouth company. Though she’s on the counter, away from the merman’s claws, he seems to enjoy the company. So now when Eddie returns home from a day at Mike’s farm or something, he doesn't seem as lonely. 

Over the past week, Eddie grew oddly fond of the merman. Sure, he couldn’t talk, but Eddie did enough of it for the both of them. Most of the time he just complained about random things, other times he’d explain human things like technology and phones, and sometimes he’d bring his comics into the bathroom and read to him (carefully as he  _ did not  _ want to get them wet). 

Also, most, if not all of the mer’s injuries had healed pretty well. The only explanation Eddie could come up with to explain the miraculous chain of events was that mermaids had a better healing factor compared to humans. Which was on one hand, good! He seemed happier now that he wasn't in pain. But on the other hand, Eddie knew once he was fully healed, there wouldn’t be a reason to take care of him anymore, which would mean he’d have to… Eddie shook his head, dismissing the thought and returned back to the present, where he was removing the bandages on the mer’s chest. 

The one he had yet to take off was the one that sat on the mer’s cheek. He was slightly worried that out of all the injuries, that would be the one not to heal correctly. Leaving a messy, jagged scar on a face that would have otherwise been considered perfect. With as much care as he could muster, he cupped one side of the mer’s face with his hand (he ignored the butterflies that had formed in his stomach) to keep his head steady while the other slowly peeled the bandage off. 

He held the bandage in his hand and admired the skin that was now healed. Instead of a nasty scar that Eddie had imagined, all that was left was a simple line that was half the size of the original cut. Eddie thought it made him look even cuter, in a badass type of way. 

Eddie realized a moment too soon that he’d been staring longingly at the merman who’s cheek he still cupped with his hand. He was about to move away when the mer quickly reached his hand up towards the back of Eddie’s neck and pulled him down. Before Eddie could even process what was happening, their lips smashed together. For a second he couldn’t believe what was happening. Their lips moved together as if they had kissed dozens of times before. The mer’s tongue moved into Eddie’s mouth, snapping Eddie back into reality. He hastily pushed away, falling back onto the tile floor. 

The merman let out a gasp, as if he was gasping for air. His breaths became quick as he held onto the side of the bathtub. “OH THANK GOD! I Don’t know how much longer I could’ve kept that shit up…” He was breathless, but still, he spoke.

Word Count: 7604

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys when I tell you I loved writing this chapter, I mean it. Literally, that ending scene? I’ve had it planned since the day I came up with the idea for the AU, and I’m ecstatic that I finally get to show it to the world. So I hope y’all enjoyed it as much as I did. 
> 
> Don’t forget to comment, like and share to show your support!
> 
> And until next time, 
> 
> So Long and Goodnight.


	3. First Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie and his merman’s relationship evolves with the mer’s new found voice.

Eddie’s eyes went as wide as the full moon, his eyebrows had practically sky rocketed and his jaw hit the floor. 

When he finally gathered up the energy to speak, he couldn’t help the tone of his voice, it wasn't really angry…. It was just  _ loud _ , “What the fuck! You kiss me and now you can speak?”

“Of course I can speak! Everyone can,” he shot back, his own voice growing louder to match Eddie’s. 

“But you had to kiss me to do it?” 

“Uh-  _ yeah _ , I need saliva for the spell to work,” the merman said in a ‘well duh’ tone. 

“SPELL!?” Eddie’s stomach dropped. 

“Yeah! How do you think I just magically learned human-” But before the merman could continue, Eddie got to his feet. 

“I-I, I can’t do this,” he stammered. He could barely look at the fish in his tub, he rushed out of the bathroom, practically tripping as he tried to stand. 

“Oh come on cute ass!” He called after Eddie. 

Eddie hesitated as he stood at the top of the stairs, without missing a beat he flipped the fish off and left the house. He needed to get as far away from that  _ thing _ as he could. 

_ Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUck. fuCK. FUCK! _

The only coherent thought he could create inside his head. 

It was a little ironic that he ended up standing on the beach when he wanted to escape his- the merman. 

His knees wobbled from beneath him, causing him to take a seat on the warm sand. 

_ He kissed me _ . 

Eddie couldn’t deny that he did  _ kinda  _ enjoy it. The way their lips moved, it was as if they were on the same wavelength, two jigsaw pieces finally clicked together. And Eddie hated it. 

  
He hated how much he enjoyed the kiss, he hated how much he’s grown used to his trashmouth, he hated how cute he was. What he hated most was that one day he’d have to go back into the ocean, to his  _ home _ . The idea made Eddie sick to his stomach, and he knew why. As much as he hated to admit it, he had developed a crush on the scaly creature. It was just something about the way that Eddie was able to be himself when he was with the mer, how they made eachother laugh and smile. Even if it couldn’t talk! Eddie always felt at home when they were together, even if they were just sitting in silence. There was nowhere else he’d rather be.

After his realization struck, that’s when he noticed the hot tears that had begun to stream down his face. And it was all because he was crushing on a creature of the sea…

~

It took him a while, maybe even hours, to fully compose himself, but he did. When he did he tried so hard to think of things on the brighter side. 

“Okay… So it-  _ he  _ can talk. That’s great! We kissed, that’s  _ great _ . Sure it felt like literal heaven on earth but that’s  _ fine _ . It’s all  _ fine.  _ Fuck, well at least I can fianlly find out his goddamn name,” Eddie chuckled at that last bit. 

He still sat on the beach when his eyes finally returned to their normal look, after crying. His hands had found their place in the sand by his side, mindlessly digging and tossing the sand. He stopped when he felt something hard in his grasp. He glanced to the side and saw something sticking out of the sand where his hand had just been. Eddie picked it up and held it up. The sun shined down on the small piece of sea glass Eddie held. 

The stone brought a smile to his face and a memory to mind. He remembered the mer’s glasses, how their lenses were made out of some sort of sea glass, how eager the mer was to finally see the world, see  _ Eddie. _

“Scales and sea glass,” Eddie smiled and pocketed the stone, finally ready to go back inside. 

~

Eddie walked with his back straight and his chin high, he marched into his house and up the stairs into the bathroom. The merman stirred, turning to watch as the human stopped in front of the tub.

“Hi, I’m Eddie Kaspbrak.” He introduced himself and stuck his hand out. He mimicked the fish and made a little grabbing motion with his fingers. He smiled halfheartedly. “Give me your hand. It’s how us- humans introduce ourselves.”

The merman silently raised his hand out of the water and placed it inside Eddie’s. It was a little awkward with the webbed fingers and the claws, but it was still something. 

“I’m Richie. Richie Tozier.” The merman, Richie, smiled, glad to see his human didn’t look completely mortified like he did before. 

Eddie smiled,  _ Richie Tozier, I like the sound of that _ . 

~

The next few days were  _ interesting _ . Now everyday when Eddie walked into the bathroom he was greeted by his merman, Richie, who he learned had a love for talking, and had a trashmouth, of course. Constantly joking about fucking moms and doing crack (how did he know about cracK? Eddie will never know). Although they fell into a groove, that was their constant bickering, they also began subtle flirting with each other, something Eddie wasn't sure if Richie meant in a platonic way, or if he shared the same feelings that Eddie did. 

“Okay so you’re telling me that this kid- Peter?” Richie asks. 

“Peter,” Eddie confirmed, a ghost smile on his lips. 

“So Peter gets bits by a tiny tiny spider and suddenly he gets powers? How the hell does that work?” Richie had his chin resting on the edge of the tub, looking down at the comic book Eddie was reading for him. 

Eddie laughed, something he seems to be doing a lot of now that Richie can talk, “How the hell am I supposed to know? It’s like you and your powers-” Eddie ducked his head, raised his hand and flicked Richie’s forehead, “Aqua man,” he smirked. 

“Oh I am  _ so _ not Aquaman. I’m more of a…. Batman, ya know? Cool and mysterious,” Richie smiled into the distance. 

Eddie laughed, like  _ hard _ . 

“HEY! I can be mysterious! I was a myth to your kind for the longest fucking time,” Richie nodded his head proudly. 

“No, you jackass. You’re so not cool.” Eddie looked over at Richie, he blushed when he saw Richie was already staring at him. 

~

“Fuck I hate this stuff,” Eddie almost gagged as he shoved another mussel into his mouth. 

“Then why do you eat it?” Richie asked, mouth full of fish. Eddie grimaced slightly then swallowed the food in his mouth. 

“‘Cause I gotta start eating fish at one fucking point,” Eddie twirled another forkfull of pasta, shoving it in his mouth, then putting a couple mussels in there as well, at least if he mixed it up then he wouldn’t taste them as much. 

With Eddie buying so much fish for Richie (plus Richie gave him hell for not liking fish), he decided he might as well try to get accustomed to it as well. So he started off small, mixing seafood into his normal meals and such, tonight was pasta and mussels in a white wine sauce. Eddie had learned that he was actually a pretty good cook. 

“What even is that?” Richie gestured to the pasta with a clawed finger. 

Eddie twirled another forkful, added a mussel then held it out to Richie. The mer smiled at the gesture and opened his mouth. He chewed, swallowed and smiled. 

“Damn, Eds! That’s good!” Richie hollered.

“How many times do I have to tell you-” Eddie started. 

“Don’t call me Eds, I’m too cute for my own good… blah, blah, blah” Richie mimicked Eddie’s voice. The compliment sent a warm feeling through Eddie’s chest as he glanced away. 

“It’s spaghetti by the way,” Eddie said shyly. 

Richie cocked an eyebrow, “Spajetti?”. 

“Spa-get-ti” Eddie giggled as he over pronounced the word. 

“Spaghetti?” Richie asked. 

“Spaghetti.” Eddie confirmed, a small proud smile on his lips. 

“Eddie Spaghetti?” Richie inquired, eyebrows raised. 

Eddie’s eyes went wide, “No, no, no,noooo. Please don’t start calling me that,” Eddie begged, but there’s no sorrow in his voice, just pure amusement. 

“Whatever you say Spagheds,” Richie winked. 

“God I hate you,” Eddie laughed. 

Richie let out a little happy huff of air through his nose as his gaze fell on Eddie, “I hate you too”. 

~

Richie’s life changed drastically the day he got caught up in that storm and washed up inside of Eddie’s pool. Sure it was a big change from what he was usually used to, which was aimlessly floating around the ocean, but now he got to aimlessly spend his days inside of a cute boy’s bath tub. _And he’s_ _really_ _cute. Cute, cute, cute…_

The morning light came in through the bathroom window, directly onto Richie’s face. His eyes fluttered open, immediately scanning his blurry surroundings. 

_ Shit, glasses _ . 

Richie leaned over the side of the tub and aimlessly felt around for his glasses which he always took off before he fell asleep, in fear of them somehow breaking in his sleep. His fingers brushed over the glasses, so he flicked his fingers and got his claws out, which gave his fingers a little bit more length. With that, he was able to slide his glasses closer to him. He grabbed them and put them on. The world cleared around him. He let out a sigh as he moved his hands to rest behind his head with his elbows out. He watched the morning sunlight dance over his blue scales, the light reflected onto the ceiling, creating a trippy design on the bathroom ceiling. 

Richie’s head snapped to the side when he heard the door creak open, and in walked a very tired-looking Eddie. 

“Good morning, my dearest Eddie, and how’s thy doing on this fine morning?” Richie asked in a british accent. Eddie took a seat on the closet toilet.

“Morning Trashmouth,” Eddie smirked as he sat down beside him on the floor instead of the toilet (it was something Eddie had started to do more ad Richie loved it). Eddie glanced over at Richie, fatigue still glazed over his eyes, his hair all disheveled. “I barely got any sleep, again,” Eddie sighed and rubbed his temples. 

“Nightmares?” This was something Richie had grown used to, Eddie's nightmares usually revolved around his parents’ death, or the ocean.

Richie reached out (his claws retracted) and pushed a loose strand of golden brown hair behind Eddie’s ear. He left his hand cupping Eddie’s cheek. Eddie’s hand soon drifted up to rest upon the mer’s. He leaned into Richie’s touch. 

“Wanna talk about it?” Richie asked, comforting Eddie. 

“No… Rich, it's the same as always,” Eddie looked over at Richie, just the sight of his merman made Eddie's chest warm and his palms all sweaty. 

“What if, one day, we go out to the beach and I-I can try to help you swim?” Richie knew it was a crazy idea, he wasn't even sure how Eddie would get him there, but he knew one day he'd have to go back. He didn't like thinking about the day he'd have to leave Eddie. So he was determined to make every moment count. Richie also couldn't stand to see Eddie so terrified of the wafer, so he might as well try to help. 

Eddie’s eyes went wide for a second, “Me? In the water? Remember last time that happened?” The two recalled the first day they met, when Eddie fell into the pool, and Richie saved him. 

“We’ll take it slow,” Richie assured. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Eddie let out a little chuckle, he really liked how much Richie cared for him, it made him feel safe. “Well, until then, how does breakfast sound?” Eddie slowly pulled Richie’s hand off of his cheek, but kept holding on until he stood. 

“Sounds great,” Richie grinned and winked as Eddie left to go get the food. 

The two ate together and talked like usual. Eddie explained his plans for the day ahead. His friend Mike had something, called a cat? Richie wasn't sure what that was but apparently it had babies and Eddie and his group were going to see them. Richie wasn't too sure what was gonna happen, but Eddie seemed excited, so he was happy. 

The bell rang throughout the house, Eddie had told him how it meant someone was at his front door. “Shit, that’s Bill. I gotta go Rich, see you later?” He asked even though he knew the answer. He grabbed the plates and containers and stood to leave. 

“I won’t be going anywhere,” Richie smirked, he blew Eddie a kiss before the human left. 

The merman knew it was stupid to crush on a human. Everyone always told him how humans were sinister monsters who’d skin him and eat him, or rip off his tail and leave him to die. But everything changed when he met Eddie. His human was sweet and gentle, sure a little worrisome and asthmatic, but he cared for Richie, more than anyone ever has before. So of course it was easy to fall for him, especially since he was  _ so  _ cute.  _ I mean, come on! Look at him, that little face. And his cute ass!  _

When Eddie was gone, Richie tried his best to keep himself entertained. Sometimes he’d talk to Goldy, but that fish was pretty quiet and he found Richie annoying. He’d read the comics Eddie left him, well it was more Richie just admiring the pictures as he had yet to understand human writing. Eddie would also leave the little music player for Richie to use and tune to his pleasure, a radio was it? Whatever it was, Richie liked the music, and after a couple days he began to recognize the songs and then when he heard a song he knew he’d get all excited and try to sing along. After he’d usually fool around with his powers, play with the water and stuff without making too much of a mess. But the best part of any day was always when Eddie returned home to him. 

“Edwardo is that you?” Richie called out to Eddie. 

“No it’s a burglar! Yes of course it’s me!” Richie could hear the smile in Eddie’s voice as he bounded up the stairs. 

“Hey Eds,” Richie smiled, relieved to see him again. 

“Hey yourself, Trashmouth” Eddie entered the bathroom, ruffled Richie’s hair then took a seat on the floor beside him. 

“How were the tittens?” Richie asked excitedly. 

Eddie giggled. “You mean Kittens?”. 

“What now?” Richie’s brow furrowed. 

“Kittens, I went to go see baby cats today, here, look,” Eddie whipped out his phone and showed Richie some pics of the babies. 

“So you can take uh-” Richie waved his hand around, grasping for the right word, “Photos? Photos with that?” he asked. 

“Yeah, er-here” Eddie clicked a couple things then turned the phone to Richie. 

“Woah,” Richie gaped as he stared at himself in the selfie cam. “Take photos of me!” He begged happily. 

Eddie rolled his eyes playfully as Richie struck a pose. “You’re such a drama queen.” He giggled as he snapped a couple pics. Eddie took enough photos so just started a video. 

“I know right?” Richie smirked and magically flicked some water at Eddie. 

“Hey!” he giggled. Eddie turned the camera around so he could see himself as he sat back down beside Richie. “Say hi,” he suggested as Richie leaned forward.

“Hey guys, Richie Tozier here,” Richie announced in a TV announcer voice. “Here with me today is the adorable Edwardo Kaspbrak.” He pinched Eddie’s cheek. 

Eddie swatted his hand away, “That’s not my name dickwad,” he mused.

“I know but you love it so much,” Richie smirked. 

“I really don’t.”

“But I know what you do like,” Richie claimed and kissed Eddie’s cheek. 

The sudden show of affection nearly caused Eddie to drop his phone. His heart was racing and his stomach was full of butterflies. He ended the video and slid the phone back into his pocket. 

“Ew gross, fish germs.” He tried to hide his embarrassment as he wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. 

“Oh come on Eddie, you l _ o _ ve me,” Richie dragged out the  _ O _ . 

Eddie stood up and glanced out the door, quickly he changed the subject. “You hungry for some dinner? I can make you some pasta if you want?” he asked. 

“The only pasta I need is you, Spaghetti,” Richie smiled happily. 

“God, you’re such a sap,” Eddie sighed as he walked out of the room. 

“Ha! I don’t even know what sap means!” Richie called out after Eddie. 

Eddie made the same pasata he had from a couple nights ago. Though he wasn't the biggest fan of the mussels, he did enjoy the white sauce it was in. He made the pasta and put his on a plate, then added some more fish to Richie’s and put it in a bowl. 

They ate dinner together and joked around like usual. When the sky grew dark and the moon came out, Eddie let out a yawn. 

“Well, that’s my cue. I’m gonna go to bed,” Eddie said, stretching. 

“Okay,” Richie looked a little disappointed, even though he too was about to fall asleep. He never seemed to get enough time with Eddie. 

“Goodnight trashmouth,” Eddie leaned over and kissed Richie’s forehead. The gesture acted as a way of payback for the little stunt Richie pulled during that video. Eddie could visibly see Richie blush as he looked up at him with those big blue eyes. 

“Goodnight Eds.”

“That’s not my name!” Eddie smirked, turning to leave.

“Wait-Eds, I’ve been meaning to ask, what does that button do?” Richie pointed to a small red button above the main water controls of the tub. 

Eddie yawned and waved his hand around, “It doesn't matter, Rich. Just please don’t touch it…. Goodnight.”

Richie stared at the doorway as he watched Eddie leave.  _ Well shit, now i’ve gotta test it out. _ Richie’s mind was slipping in and out of sleep as he poked the button with the tip of his tail fin. Sadly sleep took him away before he could see what it did.

**Word Count: 3072**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AH GUYS I ADORED THIS CHAPTER SO MUCH! Richie and Eddie are just so cute and chaotic. But damn y'all aren't even ready to see what happens next chapter OMG. On that note, I will see all of you next monday where you find out what the red button does. Until then...  
> So Long and Goodnight


	4. Not So Scaly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie literally finds out what it's like to be a fish out of water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah the last chapter did so well! I got a bunch of comments and they really made my day. Keep them coming! I love hearing all your thoughts and opinions. 
> 
> Okay I'll stop talking now, enjoy!

Eddie jolted upright in bed at the sound of screaming, Richie screaming.

“EDDIE!” Richie shouted, “EDDIE”.

Eddie threw the covers off of him and jumped out of bed. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he ran to the bathroom.

Someone’s in the house, someone’s found Richie, he got out of the tub somehow, his wounds opened up again, his scales fell off, he broke his glasses-

Eddie’s entire being froze at the sight of what was in his bathtub.

He has legs. HOLLY SHIT HE HAS LEGS, AND HE’s- oh god he’s naked, so naked…

“What. The. Fuck.” Eddie’s jaw was on the floor, eyes wide with shock.

“You can say that again! I’VE BEEN DECAPITATED!” Richie shouted, obviously confused and angry.

He was still in the tub, and his upper half hadn't changed, no that was the same…. But it was his lower half. Instead of a long blue tail that flopped over the edge, Richie had long pale legs. They were as smooth as a baby’s butt, with feet and toes and everything. Eddie’s gaze flickered over to his hands that were running up and down his new legs. The human noticed the lack of claws and webbing that once connected his fingers. And there were no scales whatsoever.

“Holly shit,” Eddie gapped, unable to form any other sentence that wasn’t filled with pure and utter shock. He felt like he was gonna pass out.

Richie has legs. Like- actual legs, no tail or scales, just legs, human legs.

“Eddie fucking Kaspbrak what the hell did you do to me?” He demanded, his eyes still as blue as ever, but now there was a fire that burned behind them.

“ME? How is this my fault?” Eddie demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. Something inside him warmed at the continuation of their iconic banter.

“Who else could it have been? The damn tooth fairy?” Richie ran his hands through his hair, suddenly the anger replaced by fear. “What happened to me?” His voice grew quiet.

Eddie grabbed the shirt he’d gotten from Bev and tossed it at Richie. “Cover that up,” he gestured to his privates.

“EDDIE THIS IS SERIOUS!” Richie tried to sound serious but now he was kinda over being shocked. “How did this even happen…?” He closed his eyes and pushed his glasses up his face so he could rub his eyes.

Eddie began investigating the tub for some magical crab or weird potion, instead he found the red button had been pushed. “Fucking hell…” He turned to the mer, “Did you push the button after I explicitly told you not to?”.

Richie’s face went blank, “Maybe…”.

“You dumbass! That button drains the water from the tub! The lack of water must’ve caused all this,” Eddie vagley gestured to Richie’s new legs.

“HEY! How the hell was I supposed to know what’d happen? God- fuck can you just get me out of the damn tub? I don’t wanna be in here longer than I have to be.” Richie held his arms up and did the little grabby motion with his hands.

“You’re sooooo needy,” he dragged out the O in an over dramatic tone. “First put the fucking shirt on so I don’t have to keep staring at your junk,” Eddie ordered as he crossed his arms over his chest. He looked the other way to give Richie some privacy.

Richie sighed, “And you say I’m the dumbass. I’ve never worn a fucking shirt before!” Richie threw the shirt at Eddie’s head.

Eddie began to laugh as he yanked the shirt off his face, “Oh god. We’re so sad.” He shook his head.

Richie couldn’t help but join in, Eddie’s laugh was contagious. “Whatever, I’m sorry Spaghetti, just please help me,” Richie said, his tone was not serious but the message was.

Eddie got Richie to lift his arms over his head and the human pulled the shirt onto the mer. He fixed the arms as Richie looked down at the design and scoffed. After Eddie wrapped an arm around Richie and helped him up and scooped him out of the tub. Once Richie’s feet were flat on the bathroom floor, he leaned on Eddie and straightened up, standing tall. Eddie’s stomach dropped as he noticed the height Richie now had over him.

It didn’t take too long for Richie to catch on, and when he did, a devious smirk played over his lips. Looking down at Eddie he cooed, “Hey short stuff.”

“Hey chicken legs,” Eddie retorted, staring down at Richie’s bony legs.

“I don’t even know what that means,” Richie smiled at his human.

Sure it was a struggle but Eddie got Richie into his room and helped him into a pair of his bigger shorts. Even though they were big on Eddie, they were a little tight on Richie, but even if he did mind, he didn’t mention it. They were red and rode half way up the mer’s thighs. Eddie would be lying if he said he didn’t stare at the view for the first few seconds when Richie initially put them on. But he snapped himself out of his little horny trance as he knew they both needed to eat.

Let’s just say that going down the stairs while supporting someone who’s taller than you, who’s also never walked before, is hard to say the least. But once they finally made it into the kitchen, Eddie sat Richie down in a chair and went to go start making food.

After brunch, Eddie was determined to help Richie learn to walk, or at least stand on his own. Since Eddie was not going to be able to withstand much more of all this physical labour, he could already feel his bones aching from the amount of lifting he’s been doing lately. So they started with the basics: standing.

Eddie helped Richie off the chair and held onto his hands (while ignoring the heat in his cheeks) as he let Richie find his balance (which he didn’t have a lot of). The mer wiggled and wobbeled before he was able to straighten his knees and tilt his chin up. Eddie took a step backwards, in hopes of getting Richie to follow, but instead it ruined his center of gravity and Richie began to fall forward.

The two landed on the kitchen floor with a big thump. They both moaned and groaned.

“We’ve gotta stop meeting like this,” Richie mused from where he laid, on top of Eddie.

“Heh… Yeah,” Eddie agreed, but in all honesty he kinda liked the closeness (aside from the sprouting pain in his back). Richie was all warm and clingy, a new side he’s been able to experience since he’s gotten legs.

By the time dinner rolled around, Richie was able to safely say he could stand on his own, and walk slowly. This made it a hell of a lot easier on Eddie when it was time for them to head upstairs for bed. Instead of Richie leaning all of his weight on the shorter male, he simply kept one arm on the banister and the other around Eddie’s waist.

“Okay, so I’ll grab a pillow and a blanket and sleep for you for the tub-” Eddie began before he was interrupted by Richie.

“What? No way in hell am I going back to the tub,” Richie complained from where he stood in Eddie’s room, watching Eddie rifle through his closet.

“Fine. You take my bed while I go sleep on the couch in the living room,” Eddie offered, finally finding a spare blanket, he flung it at Richie.

The blanket covered Richie’s head, he yanked it off, messing up his hair (Eddie found it adorable). “What? Eddie, no. This is your house, you take the bed,” Richie insisted as he balled up the blanket in his hands.

“Whatever you say Trashmouth, you want the couch you get the couch-”

“No- holy shit you’re clueless. Eddie, sleep with me.”

Eddie stopped, dropping the pillow in his hands. “W-What?” His voice shook.

“There’s clearly enough space for both of us in your bed, so I don’t see why we can’t just fucking sleep togeher,” Richie wildly guestured to Eddie’s queen-sized bed.

Of course that’s what he meant. It’s not like he’d want to actually sleep with you…

“Oh! Um- If that’s alright with you,” Eddie scrambled to grab the pillow he dropped.

Richie scoffed, finding flustered Eddie cute. “I’m the one that offered.”

Eddie mentally slapped himself. “Yep, right, sorry,” he stumbled on his words.

I sound like fucking Bill.

With that the two boys got ready for bed, Richie simply staying in the clothes he’d been wearing as they were comfy and still clean. While Eddie scurried off to the bathroom to change into a pair of flannel pajama pants and a vintage Voltron shirt. The two shuffled into bed, Eddie stayed on the very edge as he worried he’d internally combust if he continued to be so close to Richie. While Richie tossed and turned in an attempt to find a good position.

“Goodnight Eddie,” Richie said before a yawn escaped his lips.

Eddie looked over at the beautiful boy in his bed and smiled to himself. “Goodnight Richie.”

~

Eddie opened his eyes, and he couldn’t see. The water that engulfed him blurred his vision. He wasn't sure how long it had been since he last took a breath. Maybe that’s why his lungs burned like the fires of hell. Suddenly he couldn’t stop himself, and he opened his mouth, determined to breath, but instead was met by a mouthful of cold, salty water.

“Eddie!” A distant voice called out to him.

Something glowed off in the distance, it came into view as Eddie’s vision began to haze. It wasn’t just a fish, it was a mermaid, his merman.

Richie.

“EDDIE!” The voice was now louder, closer.

Suddenly Eddie was gasping for air as someone shook his shoulders.

His vision cleared and he saw Richie leaning over him, eyes filled with concern. “Eddie! Hey, are you okay?” His voice trembled as he hesitated to let go.

Eddie had trouble forming words, the nightmare still fresh in his mind. Then, he became aware of the thick layer of sweat covering his body, and how oddly wet his face had become. He’d been crying. He didn’t know what to do, what to say. So instead of answering he simply wrapped his arms around Richie and buried his face into his neck.

Richie immitaly hugged Eddie back, rubbing soft circles into his back with one hand while the other held Eddie’s head as he softly sobbed. “Hey… It’s okay. I’m here now, you’re safe,” Riche cooed, softly stroking Eddie’s hair. The two had been sitting up for a while, so Richie slowly lowered them down to lie on their sides. The mer held his human and whispered sweet nothings to him until they both drifted off to sleep.

Eddie woke up to find an arm draped over his torso as he huddled close to Richie’s chest. As much as his thoughts told him to move, to go make breakfast, to not get attached because of the inevitable, he stayed there. He stayed in Richie’s arms and let the world turn around them.

“‘Morning Eds,” Richie croaked.

Eddie melted at the sound of Richie’s morning voice, low and gravely. He tensed, about to slither out of Richie’s grasp before he could let go, but instead of letting go, he held Eddie tighter. Eddie melted even further, thankful for the warmth the mer brought him.

“How was your sleep? Better?” Richie asked, running his hand through Eddie’s messy morning hair.

“Better” Eddie confirmed.

Eddie was a bit distant for the next couple of days. His eyes couldn’t properly focus on anything and his mind was all hazy. Richie noticed and tried to ask him about it but Eddie just disregarded him, saying he was fine even though Richie could tell he clearly wasn't.

Eddie might act oblivious but he knew well enough. He knew that everyday he spent with Richie would only make his feelings stronger, making it so much harder to let him go when the time came.

One night after dinner, Richie had fallen asleep on the couch. When he woke up again, the house was dark, and Eddie wasn't beside him.

“E-Eds?” Richie groaned as he slid his glasses on. He sat upright and looked around the silent house. “Eddie!” he called out again.

Carefully, Richie stood up from his seat on the couch and took a couple steps towards the kitchen. He was halfway there when a cool breeze blew past. He looked in the direction of the wind and saw the screen door was open. Richie let out a sad sigh. “Eddie…”. He grabbed a blanket from the couch, wrapped it around his shoulders and proceeded to shuffle towards the door.

Another gust of wind blew past as Richi stepped out onto the back patio, he shivered under the warm fabric of the blanket.

Eddie sat on the first step of the patio, knees pulled closed to his chest, his arms folded overtop and his head down. Neither of them spoke as Richie sat down beside him. He felt Richie scoot a little closer, their knees bumping against each other and their shoulders brushing each other.

Richie didn’t ask if Eddie was okay, because the answer was obvious, so instead he asked, “Are you cold?”

Eddie simply responded, “No”.

Richie huffed. “That’s such bullshit”.

In response Eddie let out a breath of air from his nose as his lips smiled a sad smile. Without another word, Richie got as close as he could, and wrapped a blanketed arm over Eddie’s shoulders. Eddie unwillingly melted into Richie’s touch, leaning a head against him.

“What’s been going on with you lately?” Richie rubbed Eddie’s arm.

Eddie didn’t meet Richie’s gaze, nor did he answer the question. Instead he looked out into the ocean that sat before them and asked, “Do you miss it?” his voice weak and distant.

“Yeah, Eddie, I do. I spent my entire life there.” He paused to collect his thoughts. “But that doesn't mean that’s where I wanna spend the rest of my life. It means that I like spending time here, here, on land, with you,” Richie elbowed Eddie slightly.

Eddie stiffened and pushed away from Richie so he could turn to look at him for the first time during their conversation.

“What does that even mean?” His face scrunched up in confusion.

“I mean what I said, Eddie! I like it here, I like you, I thought all the hints were kinda fucking obivious,” Richie turns red as he gushes.

Eddie’s breath hitched with the sudden wave of emotions that hit him. “Y-You like me…?” Eddie asked quietly.

“Yes, Eddie, I-I do. Like, a lot” Richie stumbled over his words as he began to worry that he said the wrong thing. “Sorry- I, um, that was stupid, I should’ve just kept my mouth shut-” Eddie shut him up by leaning in and kissing his lips.

The kiss lasted a couple of seconds, a spark ignited in the two as they pulled apart. “I like you too Rich, like, a lot,” Eddie admitted, quoting Richie.

Richie giggled like a little school girl, “Cool…” he blushed. “Can we uh- kiss again?” Richie requested sheepishly.

“I’d be pissed if we didn’t kiss again,” Eddie raised his eyebrows as Richie put a hand behind Eddie’s head and closed the distance between them.

This kiss was different from their first kiss, when Richie needed it purley to gather what he needed to be able to speak, but now there was more emotion in it. Something pure and raw that filled both of them with a warm feeling in their chests. Their lips moved insync, as if they were made for eachother, two puzzle pieces finally getting together.

Eddie broke away from Richie, his breath shaky as he spoke. “Richie we can’t do this. Y-You’re gonna leave one day-”

“One day,” Richie confirmed, “But not today, so please, can we just live in the moment? We don’t know when that day will come, but we’ll deal with it then. For now let’s just makeout, okay?”

Eddie thought about the hundreds of times he wished Richie would say that, and everytime he blocked the thought out, knowing one day Richie would leave. Today was not one of those days. For once, Eddie allowed himself to be happy and feel the emotions as they came. So that’s what they did, they made out.

~

“Okay we’ve gotta go shopping,” Eddie declared as he plopped down on his bed beside Richie, who was lying on his back, reading a comic book.

Richie dropped the comic onto his chest and looked over at his new boyfriend. “I have no clue what that is,” he said with a smile, excited.

“It’s when you go buy new clothes,” Eddie informed Richie as he laid down beside him.

“Why do you need new clothes?” Richie asked, turning onto his side to admire Eddie.

“Well we need to go shopping to get you some clothes. You can’t keep wearing my small clothes-”

“But I like them, they smell like you,” Richie whined as Eddie turned over.

“Well that won’t be too hard to fix now will it?” Eddie smirked as he slid closer to Richie. “I was thinking, this could also be a good chance for you to meet my friends,” Eddie suggested, nervous of the answer he’ll receive. It’s been about 3 weeks since Richie first washed into Eddie’s pool and one week since Richie got his legs. Since then, the mer has actually gotten pretty good at walking. Maybe not the best at running and dodging obstacles, but baby steps. Sure he still leans on Eddie sometimes but that’s more because he’s clingy and adores his short human.

“Wait- serious?!” Riche perked up, propping himself up on his elbows and looking down at Eddie, “That’d be so cool, I’ve been wanting to meet them for, like, ever,” Richie smiled.

“Really?” Eddie’s eyes widened in excitement.

“Yeah of course! Any friends of yours are friends of mine,” Richie smiled warmly, leaning down and giving Eddie a quick kiss.

~

The next day Eddie and Richie got ready and waited for Bill to come pick them up. Eddie wore a light blue tee he tucked into his jeans and he leant Richie another outfit of his, this time it was an old shirt his mom had bought from Freese’s that was too big on Eddie, yet it almost fit Richie like a crop top (and Eddie was loving it). Accompanied by a pair of old khaki shorts. The hardest part was when Eddie showed Richie what shoes were.

“Over my dead body,” Richie crossed his arms over his chest in protest.

“Well that can be arranged,” Eddie grumbled, jokingly.

Richie smirked and leaned down, wrapping an arm around Eddie and leaning his head on top of the short male’s. “What was that babe?”.

Eddie looked up at him. “You literally can’t go out without them.”

“I’ll wear them if I can be the small spoon tonight,” Richie stuck out his lower lip and widened his eyes, a face Eddie dubbed his sad puppy face.

“You’re so sad,” Eddie kissed him quickly before tossing the shoes at him.

It was a struggle but Eddie finally showed Richie how to tie his shoelaces. They both stood up at the sound of Bill honking his horn.

“Oh, it feels like my feet are in boxes,” Richie deadpanned as his knees wobbled again, just like they had when he first learned to walk. Immediately he stumbled, leaning on Eddie for support.

Eddie turned and looked at his boyfriend with concern. “You okay Rich?”

Richie nervously laughed and stood on his own, slowly finding his balance. “Yep! I’m all good.”

Eddie led Richie out and to Bill’s car, opened the back door, and slid in, beckoning for Richie to follow. Bev was already inside, she and Bill talking about something Georgie had done recently that resulted in him shooting milk from his nose.

“Eddie is this the dark and mysterious man you keep ditching us for?” Bev asked as she turned to face the two in the back seat.

Of course The Losers had picked up on Eddie’s constant disappearances, and Eddie couldn’t lie to save his life, so he admitted he met someone, an internet friend from out of state of course. He wanted to tell them the truth, he really did, but he didn’t feel right doing it without Richie beside him. So he did his best at lying, making up some elaborate story about how Richie was someone he’d met online and was moving to town and needed a place to stay. Also that he had social anxiety and needed time to settle in before he was ready to meet anyone. Eddie also sprinkled in the fact that said friend had some weird physical thing that meant he had trouble walking sometimes. Surprisingly, everyone bought it.

“Yep! Here he is, the elusive Richie,” Eddie laughed nervously.

Richie grinned and stuck his hand out. “Richie Tozier the honour is all mine.”

Bev reached out and shook his hand and Richie pulled her hand closer and kissed her knuckles, making her blush. Eddie couldn’t shake the twang of jealousy that shot through him.

“Beverly Marsh,” she introduced herself. “I’ve heard lots about you.”

“All terrible I assume?” Richie said in a british accent, he smirked and nudged Eddie.

Bev joined in, placing the back of her hand on her forehead. “Ah yes darling, terrible, absolutely wretched.” She swooned in a matching accent.

“I’m Bill,” the third male smiled warmly from the driver's seat.

Richie kept going, this time switching to a weatern accent. “Well howdy hey Big Bill. How’re you doing on this fine morn’?” The two shook hands.

“H-How’ve you been settling in?” Bill inquiries.

“Me? Oh I’m doin’ fine. Just livin’ my best life with my whittle Eddie.” He gave Eddie a peck on the cheek as Eddie stilled and Bev gasped.

“Eddie you didn’t tell me the site you met Richie on was a dating website?” Bev asks in shock at the sudden show of affection.

“N-No that’s not where we met-” Eddie started.

“What’s a dating webs-” Richie cut in.

“But YES! We’re dating” Eddie concluded, not wanting to dig himself into a hole or reveal too much about Richie.

“Wow E-Eddie didn’t think you were lo-looking for a relationship,” Bill winked at Eddie through the rearview mirror.

When the foursome arrived at the mall, Eddie jumped to get out of the car. He ran around to Richie’s side to help him out. Richie had never been in a car before, or in shoes. The last thing Eddie needed was for him to trip and fall flat on his face. As they walked towards the mall’s main entrance, Eddie kept a firm grasp on Richie’s hand. Yes he loved the physical affection but he was also determined to stay beside Richie so he didn’t get lost or kidnapped or something.

Let’s just say the mall blew Richie’s little fish brain. It was a little overwhelming. He almost fell over a couple of times, but he had Eddie to lean on.

As the four Losers walked into the main area of the mall, three of the four stiffened at the sound of a loud laughter that erupted from behind them. Richie almost kept walking until he felt Eddie’s hand tighten around his own. He stopped and looked around to see the other staring at something, someone.

“Well if it isn’t Derry’s resident Losers Club,” Henry Bowers called out as he and his goonies approached them.

“Fu-Fuck off Henry,” Bill hissed, steping infront of his friends in a defensive manner.

“Su-suck my d-dick Bu-Bu-Bill.” Henry’s friends laughed as he mocked Bill’s stutter.

Eddie looked up and shot Richie a worried glance.

Henry caught wind of their silent conversation and addressed it. “Well look at this, does little wheezy finally have a faggot boyfriend?”

Richie’s blood boiled at how much pleasure this brought the Bowers Gang. He drowned out their comments and focused on the drinks they held in their hands. Richie took a step back, pulling Eddie with him only moments before the drinks exploded, soaking the bullies in their sugary beverages.

The Losers didn’t wait to see Henry’s reaction as they used the explosion as a distraction to bolt from the bullies. Bill led the way with Bev in tow, Eddie pulled Richie along as they darted past stands and zig zagged between customers.

“That was amazing!” Eddie hollered, shooting Richie a proud grin as they finally slowed down.

They met up with the rest of The Losers Club at the food court.

Mike waved them down when he saw them enter. “Hey guys!” he greeted.

“Hey Mike,” Bill smiled and took the seat beside him.

Ben got up from his seat and offered it to Bev, she gave him a kiss on the cheek and took it, Ben stole a chair from the other table.

“Wait, where’s Stan?” Eddie questioned as he took a seat with Richie, across from Bill and Mike.

“He went to grab a smoothie,” Ben informed him.

“Okay I wanted to wait but guys, this is Richie, my uh-” Eddie hiestated, “boyfriend.”

“Hello,” Richie grinned and waved.

“Your what” Stan suddenly appeared behind Mike.

“Hey! Stanley’s here,” Eddie piped up.

“Yes, and he’s very curious. When did you two become an item? I thought you were online friends,” Stan handed Mike a smoothie and took the other seat beside him.

Richie opened his mouth to respond but Eddie spoke. “Yeah we’ve been online friends for a while, and when he came to stay with me, we realized we had feelings for eachother.” Eddie became tense, lying always made him nervous. Richie noticed and put a hand on his knee, relieving some of the stress. Eddie let out a breath.

The group went to various stores, Bev dragged them to makeup stores, Bill dragged them to bookstores, Mike (politely) dragged them to a kitchen appliance store (he likes cooking and needed a new whisk). Then they stopped in one of the big clothing stores and made a mutual agreement to go and look in their own sections as everyone had different styles.

For a change, Eddie let Richie pull him around as he wanted to let the mer choose his own clothes. After jokingly picking out a jockstrap and a D cup bra, he finally decided on a variety of Hawaiian shirts with loud prints, some shorts, a pair of jeans and an array of T shirts (Some plain, some graphic tees). Eddie showed him to the changing rooms and waited outside for Richie to change.

Richie carefully stripped and replayed the memories of Eddie getting dressed in hopes that he’d be able put everything on correctly. His first outfit was a Hawaiin shirt that was covered in pastel pink and blue flowers and a black muscle top, paired with a pair of black shorts. He stepped out of the changing room and shyly turned to Eddie who was now blushing at the sight of seeing Richie in something other than his own clothes.

“How do I look?” Richie asked, worried about the amount of colour.

“Richie you look really good,” Eddie smiled in approval.

Richie blushed but covered it up as he struck a pose, stroked his thigh and asked, “You like what you see?” He wiggle his eyebrows seductively.

Eddie covered his face with his hand, now red as a tomato and sighed. “You’re so weird.”

After a long Richie Tozier exclusive fashion show, he decided on the items he wanted to buy. He went back into the changerooms and put his normal clothes back on. When it came time to put his shoes on, he took a seat on the bench in the corner of the room and mindlessly itched his ankle. Something felt off.

Glancing down, Richie’s entire being froze at what he saw. A small patch of skin around his ankle had become tough, hard, and almost blue. Richie snapped his eyes shut. This cannot be happening. His breath hitched as he carefully traced the rough area with his fingers. If he focused hard enough he could feel the vague outline of scales.

He moved the hand from his ankle and raked it through his hair. He could feel tears biting at his eyes as he grimaced. “Fuck,” he weekly whispered.

“E-Eddie?” Richie quietly called out from the changeroom.

“Yeah, Rich, everything alright?” Eddie asked from outside the door.

Richie exhaled and asked Eddie to assist him with his shoes. Eddie wasted no time and slipped inside and did Richie’s shoes. Once they were both up and on their feet, Richie wrapped Eddie in a hug.

“What’s this for?” Eddie asked.

“I… I just really like you,” Richie breathed. One hand on Eddie’s neck while the other was in his hair, he held him tightly, as if he were about to pop a tail and get swept off by the tide.

“I really like you too Chee,” Eddie knew what he’d done the moment the word left his mouth.

Richie stopped and slowly, dramatically pulled away from Eddie, holding his shoulders tight. “D-Did my Eddie Spaghetti just create a nickname for me?” he gasped joyfully. He released Eddie’s shoulders and looked to the ceiling, fanning his eyes as if he was about to cry. “looks like miracles are real.”

“Oh god,” Eddie groaned as he hid his face in between Richie’s neck and his shoulder.

“Say it again! Say it again!” Richie begged as he pulled Eddie away so he could look at his face.

Eddie let the moment last, anticipation rising before letting out a soft. “Chee.” He watched his boyfriend literally melt at the words.

Richie leaned down and kissed Eddie, and in that moment there was nowhere else they would have rather been. 

Word Count: 4995

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw there's so much tooth-rotting fluff in this chapter I think I need to go to the dentist. LOL I'm a comedic god, I know. I hope that y'all enjoyed this chapter and are excited to see what happens next with Richie and that little patch of scales... Anyways until next time, So Long and Goodnight.


	5. Scaly Developments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie is determined to help Eddie overcome his greatest fear as he knows his past is catching up to him. Then Richie and Eddie finally have t h e talk...

Another week had passed and Richie had found his place in The Losers Club. He was the trade mark comedic relief character, who also annoyed the shit out of everyone. But they loved him nonetheless.

As much as Eddie loved how he didn’t have to hide Richie from his friends anymore, he also loved the days where it was just the two of them. That day was exceptionally hot outside which meant the boys slept with no covers on and cuddled for only a little while as it was way too hot to handle the body heat of even their significant other. So they just opted to hold hands.

At lunch Richie declared he had something special planned for today. He advised Eddie to put on shorts and a tank top and meet him on the patio in 5. Eddie was confused, but complied. He changed and met up with Richie.

The sun beat down on them overhead. The immediate shift from the cool air conditioned house to the blistering heat made Eddie want to go hide in the freezer.

“Close your eyes and don’t freak out,” Richie instructed.

“Uh, okay,” Eddie reluctantly closed his eyes.

“Now this is where the ‘don’t freak out’ part comes into play,” Richie explained before swooping Eddie off his feet and holding him bridal style.

Immediately, Eddie's arms wrapped around Richie’s neck and he huddled close to his boyfriend. Richie proceeded to walk somewhere, since Eddie’s eyes were closed, so he didn’t know where they were going. So he simply laid his head on Richie’s shoulder and steadied his breathing.

“We’re here,” Richie whispered.

Eddie’s eyes fluttered open and what he saw filled him with dread. He gripped onto Richie, heart racing. “What the fuck is this?” Eddie gasped as he looked around. Richie was standing in about a foot of water, not even going up to his knees. He’d brought Eddie out into the open water of the ocean.

“Eddie- relax. I told you I was gonna help you with this, so here we are.” Richie tried his best to sound calm even though the feeling of his boyfriend shivering in his grasp was breaking his heart. “Please… Eddie we don’t have to go out far, we’re literally in a foot of water. Please, for me?”

Eddie’s not sure how he did it but somehow he let Richie convince him to put him down. The cool water went half way up his shins, lapping against his skin, sending shivers down his spine.

Richie stood behind Edide, letting his arms fall over Eddie’s shoulders as he pulled him so his chest was against Eddie’s back. He rested his chin on Eddie’s head and whispered, “See? You're okay.”

The words didn’t phase Eddie. He looked out into the great unknown of the ocean, realizing there was no end. When he looked out, all he saw was _water_. Suddenly it became too much, the salt in the air was overwhelming, the sound of the waves was deafening and the cold water on his skin was lethal. He needed to get out, he wanted to be anywhere else, and he needed it _now_.

Eddie threw Richie’s arms off him and stormed off the beach, his hands shook as his chest tightened. He was able to run back to the house and into his room, he slammed the door behind him and locked it. He couldn’t hold it back anymore, his knees gave out underneath him and the tears began to flow.

Richie called out to Eddie. He took a step forward to go after him, but his balance was off, something was _off_. Richie fell front-first into the shallow water. _Shit_ , he cursed, watching Eddie stomp back into the house. Richie let out a stressed sigh before he turned to look at what had caused the fall.

He was not happy with what he saw. The faint patch of tough scales that began around his ankle had spread, now covering the top of his foot and had almost halfway up his shins. Now that it was in water, the skin had turned a darker shade of blue, the scales more visible.

_Nonononnononononono._

Richie struggled to pull himself to his feet. His legs felt like jelly in the water. Richie tugged himself out of the water and onto the sand. When he was finally on dry sand he let out a frustrated sigh. _Finally I find someone but we can’t fucking be together cause I’m part fucking fish_. His blood boiled as the anger began to overflow. With the power that was building up inside of his chest, Richie shot his hand out towards the water, releasing the fist he had been holding, sending a massive wave going out into the ocean. Which was then followed by various curses and swears.

“HEY!” Of course some dude on the beach would attract some attention.

Richie’s head snapped toward the voice and caught a glimpse of someone in the distance. It was one of the houses beside Eddie’s, even though that house had a fence around its property, there was a gate that was occupied by a body.

“Are you okay?” The person shouted out to Richie as they left their spot at the gate. As they approached Richie, the mer blinked a couple times before they came into focus.

“Richie?” The female voice asked. Now that she was only a couple feet away, he recognized that it was Beverly.

“Hey, Marsh,” Richie looked up at her and grimaced at the light that shined in his eyes.

“Why’re you cursing out the gods? Jesus, I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually heard you.” She smirked at the comment. “Why are you on the ground?” She asked, reaching out a hand.

Richie hesitantly took it and was surprised and relieved that he was able to stand up with the state he was in only minutes before. Deep down Richie knew that the water was affecting him, causing those _scales_.

Richie recalled the story Eddie had made up for him to tell people if he was ever caught in a situation where he couldn’t walk or anything of the sorts. “It’s my uh- physical condition,” Richie recalled the title Eddie gave it.

She looked taken aback, “Shit, sorry Rich I totally forgot. Are you okay?” She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and studied his facial features.

“I don’t know… I really fucked up with Eddie. I-uh, tried to get Eddie to come in the water with me-”

“You what?” She snapped, eyes wide, she retracted her hand.

Richie held his hands up in defense, “He’s the one who said he wanted to try, I was just trying to give him a little push-”

“Eddie doesn't take lightly to a little _push_. He needs to do things, _especially this_ , on his own time. His mom totally micromanaged his entire life, and his dad was pretty damn good, so suddenly just _losing them_ really fucked him up. So go in there and apologies to him!” Bev demanded, pointing to the house.

Richie flinched at the demand.

Her expression softened a little as she continued. “He really cares about you, okay? He seems so much _happier_ now. Rich, you’re really good for him,” her lips curved into a small smile.

Richie let out a small sigh. “Thanks Bev,” he turned to look at the house. “I guess I better go,” he concluded.

Richie’s feet felt heavy as he went up the stairs. The vibe was off since most of the time when he went up or down the stairs, Eddie was with him.

Just as Richie’s hand hovered over the door in preparation to knock, the door swung open, revealing a puffy-eyed Eddie on the other side.

The two stared blankly at each other before Richie broke the silence, requesting to come in. Eddie didn’t respond, he simply stepped aside and allowed Richie in. Richie stood awkwardly in the middle of the room as Eddie crawled onto his bed and pulled his knees up to his chest, then rested his chin on them.

Richie looked around the room before his eyes fell on Eddie. “Eddie… I’m sorry,” he apologised, taking a seat on the corner of the bed. “I can’t even begin to understand how you feel. I-I just wanted to help,” Richie confessed while he scanned Eddie’s face for any shift in emotions.

Eddie inhaled shakily, “Richie, I-I wanna learn,” he croaked, his breath hitching as he continued. “I wanna be able to go swim, and-and be with you. It’s j-just… _hard,_ ” Eddie didn’t look at Richie, well it didn’t look like he was looking at anything at all, his eyes were glazed over and unfocused.

“I get that Eds, so I-I’ll be here, whenever you need it, and whenever you’re ready to _try_ , I’ll still be here.” Eddie’s head jerked upwards, eyes now focused and welling up.

“But you won’t be!” He snapped, his voice going up in volume. He let his knees go down as he sat cross legged. Richie tensed at the sudden change of tone. “Richie, you’re a fucking merman, you _can’t. Stay. Here._ ” Eddie pronounced each word individually as he waved his hands around, trying to get his point across.

Richie looked taken aback, the whole “ _going back_ ” subject was sort of a forbidden zone that neither the fish nor the human ever dared to enter. They’d been avoiding it for too long, the inevitable had finally arrived.

Richie exploded. “You think I don’t know that?! Eddie, every day I’m here I am scared _shitless_ because I know one day I’ll have to leave- leave _you_ , that’s why I wanted to help you because I don't know how long I’ll be here.” Now it was Richie’s turn to tear up. “I wanna make every moment count,” he told Eddie.

Eddie sighed in frustration. “What’s the point Trashmouth? You’re just gonna have to go back to your fish friends and leave me here, alone, _again,_ ” Eddie spat.

“Eddie, how aren’t you getting this?” Richie pulled at his hair. “I don’t want to leave you, I don’t wanna have to leave you because I have nothing out there, I never did!” He took a moment to think over his next words. “I don’t wanna leave you because I love you.” His voice was small and vulnerable.

Eddie was in the middle of wiping the tears on his cheeks with the back of his hand when his entire body tensed up. “You what?” His voice almost came out as a gasp, he was sure that his head was just playing tricks on him.

Richie’s stomach twisted, sure that he said the wrong thing. “I love you Eddie,” he repeated.

Eddie’s eyes grew wide with realization as his face softened. “Oh… I love you too, ‘Chee.” Eddie’s feelings began to bubble up inside of him. Unable to take it anymore, Eddie leaped up and tackled Richie back onto his bed. Richie burst out into laughter as Eddie wrapped his arms and legs around the mer like a koala bear.

“I love you so much Eds,” Richie whispered as he kissed the shorter boy’s forehead.

“That’s not my name,” Eddie groaned, stretching out the _A_. “I love you too,” Eddie leaned forward then placed his hand under Richie head to pull him closer before kissing him.

~

Three days later Richie woke up to the sound of a door creaking open. He kept his eyes closed until he heard a familar voice quiely cursing.

He lifted his head slightly to glance around the room, that didn’t do much as he only saw a weird blob since he didn’t have his glasses on. “Eddie?” He croaked, his voice raw.

“Rise and shine fishboy!” Eddie called out, his tone demanding, serious even.

“What’s going on,” Richie slid his glasses on and watched as Eddie pulled a pair of swim trunks on.

Eddie pulled his shirt off then reached down, grabbed a piece of clothing and tossed it at Richie. “Come on”.

“What are you on about Spaghedds?” Richie grabbed Eddie’s wrist before he could leave his range.

Eddie turned around, a smirk on his face. “Let’s go fucking swimming,” he said, a devlish smirk plasterd on his face.

Richie’s jaw dropped. “Let’s _what_?” He asked as he let go of his hand and jumped to get out of his pyjamas.

Eddie was bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Well, I was thinking about what you said the other night and I thought I should give it another try. But god help me if you let me drown I’m gonna haunt you for the rest of my dead life.” Eddie tried to keep a serious tone, but failed.

Richie grinned, now in his swim trunks. He leaned down and kissed Eddie. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Let’s go do this,” Eddie declared. He grabbed Richie’s hand and pulled him out of his room.

~

“I CAN’T DO THIS!” Eddie shrieked. He stood before his pool, where Richie stood on the first step going into the water. The pool water reflected up onto Eddie’s face as he stood a foot away from the clear water.

Richie rolled his eyes. “Eddie, you aren’t even in the pool yet,” he deadpanned. “Come on,” Richie begged as he reached out to his boyfriend and made the little grabbing motion with his hands, something Eddie had grown fond of. “Have I ever let you down?” He raised his eyebrows in an almost challenging manner.

Eddie hesitated momentarily before he lifted his hand to rest in Richie’s. He let the mer lead him to the edge, then he took his first step into the pool. There was a moment where Eddie didn’t feel anything aside from the cool feeling that filled his body when he stepped into the water. Before he could talk himself out of this, he stepped down onto the second level and the water rose to his thighs.

“Woah, take it easy,” Richie advised as he held Eddie’s hands in his. Richie backed down off the stairs, now in the shallow end of the pool.

“N-No I’m okay. I’m okay,” Eddie repeated, as if the more times he said it, the more real it would become. Eddie tried to relax but he soon felt the same feeling he had before begin to seep in.

Richie noticed and took a step backwards, tempted to get Eddie out just a little bit more before he backed out. He could tell Eddie wanted to do more but he knew the shorter male couldn’t figure out how to ask for it.

“Wanna float?” Richie wiggled his eyebrows.

Eddie felt uncomfortable all of a sudden. “Don’t say it like that,” he groaned.

Richie cracked a smile. “ _Fine,_ ” he said in a fake pouty voice. “Just turn around and lean backwards,” he instructed, releasing Eddie’s hands.

“A-Are you sure?” Eddie questioned, the waves from the distant ocean suddenly seemed so much louder than previously.

Richie stepped closer to his boyfriend. “Yes, Eddie I’m sure.” He placed his hands on the human’s hips and turned him around. When Eddie’s back was to him, Richie placed a hand on his back and told him to slowly start leaning backwards. Richie held his hand on Eddie’s back as he concentrated on controlling the water around Eddie’s body. Determined to calm the small waves that lapped against the male’s body as he slowly lowered himself down into the water. When Eddie finally began to float on the water, his body was as stiff as a board. Normally this would cause one to sink, but Richie made sure to keep him up with his hand and a little bit of magic.

“Eddie, you can relax a little,” Richie advised as he looked into Eddie’s stone cold eyes.

Eddie snapped his eyes shut, worried that any sudden movement would send him sinking to the depths of his pool. “O-Okay,” he stuttered as he unwillingly let his arms drift away from his side, uncurling his fists and relaxing his shoulders.

The way the water silenced everything else around him was something he once found overwhelming, had slowly turned peaceful, as if for just a couple moments, he was finally able to escape reality, stop swimming against the current and just _float_.

“You’re floating,” Richie whispered, almost in amazement.

Eddie moved his head in a nodding motion as he relaxed his back, but he noticed how he couldn’t feel Richie’s hand in the middle of his back anymore. “Richie!” he gasped. Suddenly his lungs felt empty as he jackknifed. His legs kicked back as they tried to find the pool’s floor and his arms thrashed above the surface.

Richie jumped into action, sweeping Eddie into his arms and holding him bridal style above the water’s reach. “Hey I’ve got you! You’re okay, you’re okay,” he assured his boyfriend as he calmed the water around them. Eddie’s sopping wet hair made it easy for Richie to magically push the wet curls out of the other’s face as Eddie’s eyes opened.

“ _Holy shit!”_ He exclaimed, “I’m alive!” His shocked expression shifted to something more happy.

“Of course! Eddie I wouldn’t _ever_ let anything happen to you,” Richie smiled down at him.

“I can’t believe it Rich- you’ve done the impossible,” Eddie smiled, because it was true. For the past year, Eddie’s fear of the water, his fear of truly _living_ has defined his entire life. Maybe he’s not 100% over his fear of the water, but he sure as hell is better than he was before. 

**Word Count: 2911**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I don't think you're ready for the next chapter.... 
> 
> *Nervous Laughter* Some shit is about to go down. But hey! Enough about the next chapter, I hope that y'all enjoyed this chapter, comment down below what was your favourite part and what you're most excited for! Sadly there are only 2 chapters left but they're the best ones! Get ready and grab you kleenex boxes (;
> 
> Until next time, 
> 
> So Long and Goodnight. 


	6. Goodbyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day both Richie and Eddie dreaded most has finally arrived.

The next day Eddie woke up on his side of the bed. Everything seemed normal except for the fact that he was lacking the arm over his waist, the legs tangled with his own, the forehead pressed into his back,  _ anything _ , any kind of physical touch that Richie  _ always  _ gave him. It filled his body with a cold sensation that made his fingers crave to hold the hand of his boyfriend. 

“Rich-Rich?” Eddie asked quietly, his voice laced with worry as he reached out in hopes of feeling Richie, but to no avail.

A low groan caused Eddie’s stomach to twitch with worry. He scrambled over to the other side of the bed and stuck his head over the edge. Worry filled his body like a bottle rocket as Eddie noticed the blood that dripped from Richie’s nose, creating a small pool of red on the floor beneath him. 

Eddie gasped and hopped off the bed to crouch by his side, “Holy shit! Richie are you okay?”. He immediately ran his hands over Richie in hopes of finding a stab wound or something that’d explain why he’s fucking  _ bleeding _ . Then he put his hand on Richie’s forehead, he was burning up. Richie was glistening with sweat that plastered his inky black curls to his face. Now that Eddie was examining him, he noticed how pale his skin had become. 

“Y-You’ve got a fever, Richie are- Richie?” Eddie’s anxiety went through the roof when he realized Richie wasn't responding, that he never responded in the first place. 

_ NoNonononononono. _

“Richie? Hey, Rich, wake up!” Eddie shook his shoulders rapidly as Richie's eyes blinked open. 

The mer’s voice was low and muffled. “Ed-die? What's happening…?” His eyes closed again. 

“Richie? What do I do?” Eddie's mind was racing as he looked down at his hands and realized how helpless he was.

Richie's head tilted to the side, “Water.” Eddie almost missed it as his heart was practically beating in his ears. 

“W-What?” Eddie stuttered as he moved closer. 

“Need…. Water,” Richie pleaded, mouth dry and nose still bleeding. 

“Of course,” Eddie said in realization. 

_ Of course he needs water he's a fucking fish! _

“Okay, okay, okay, okay! I got this,” the human tried to reassure not only his boyfriend but himself. He quickly planted a kiss on the mer's cheek before he bolted into the bathroom and began running the water in the tub. Eddie was shaken by the bolt of dejavu that shot through his body, noting how similar things were to the day he first met Richie. 

Eddie didn’t wait for the tub to completely fill up to plop Richie down into it. Eddie was only able to peel off Richie’s shirt, he left his boxers on as he didn’t want to see his junk. 

Richie’s mood changed after a couple of minutes of being submerged underwater. The colour seeped back into his skin, his eyes looked a bit more clear and he looked a bit more composed. The human sat with his back to the tub and his head in his hands as he waited for Richie to come to consciousness. 

Richie’s eyes slowly blinked open as he took in his surroundings. He turned his head and saw Eddie sitting beside the tub, back facing him. The mer reached out and let his hand sit on Eddie’s head, lightly running his hand through his hair, something he grew fond of doing.

Eddie’s head jerked back at the sudden touch. “Hey,” He whispered. 

“Hey Eds,” Richie tried to smile but his lips were dry and cracking. The mer ruffled his human’s hair.

Eddie reached up, pulling Richie’s hand down and holding it in his. “Hey baby,” Eddie said as his eyes locked with his boyfriend’s, their ocean blue colour still as striking as when they met. 

Richie’s voice held no joy, something that was very rare for the trashmouth. It broke Eddie to hear the words come from his mouth, “It’s time.”

Eddie didn’t flinch when Richie’s hand moved up to wipe away a stray tear that rolled down his cheek. “I know…” Eddie let his voice drift off. 

There was a time when neither of them spoke. Eddie simply rested his head against the side of the tub as Richie’s hand cupped his cheek. Tears hit the tile floor of the bathroom as Eddie softly sobbed. 

When he lifted his head up he allowed himself to study Richie, whose legs were tinted blue, with patches of scales breaking through the pale skin in some areas. 

Eddie wanted to speak, but he wasn't sure if he could, too drained from the overwhelming amount of emotions he’d experienced in the short amount of time. 

Richie spoke instead, “You’ll be okay, Eddie,” It sounded as if it pained him to say, “You were okay without me before, you’ll be okay without me again.”  _ But I want you to be okay  _ _ with _ _ me _ , is what he refrained from saying. 

Eddie’s lower lip quivered as he inhaled. “Y-You don’t know that.”

Richie pushed his glasses up his face so he could wipe away his own tears. “Eddie, you're one of the strongest people I know. Don’t let me stop you from living your life to the fucking fullest.” He knew well enough…

~

Eddie thought the next time he’d have to carry Richie bridal style would be when he fell asleep on the couch before bed. Not when he had to go back to the ocean, and Eddie certainly would prefer laying him down on the bed they shared, rather than the warm morning sand. It might’ve been easier to pick Richie up compared to the first time, now with a little more experience and muscle. But the emotional strain balanced him out.

There were multiple times he had to refrain from falling to his knees and breaking down right then and there. The stairs, the area where he originally dropped Richie when he first found him, the pool...

Eddie only took a moment at the edge of the beach to gather more strength before lifting Richie up once again and marching into the ocean waves. Richie’s energy dropped when he was removed from the water. His arms now draped loosely around Eddie’s neck and his head leaned against Eddie’s chest.

Richie’s eyes lulled open as he noticed Eddie was walking into the ocean. He stiffened and tried to look up at Eddie. “S-Stop… Can go from here,” he muttered. 

Eddie looked down with tear filled eyes. He was a couple moments away from shattering. “No. Richie I can’t leave you here. The least I can do is bring you into the water,” he said as he tried to keep his voice steady. Richie couldn’t fight anymore, especially with the state he was in. 

Eddie walked until the water reached his chest, that’s when he finally looked down at the boy he held in his arms. 

“I love you Richie, so fucking much.” A tear dripped into the water as Eddie leaned down to kiss the mer’s forehead. 

Just as he began to move to stand again, Richie leaned up and kissed Eddie on the lips. Using the energy he received from the water he whispered, “I love you too.”

Eddie carefully let Richie go. He floated momentarily before slipping under the waves. The human watched as his merman drifted into the open sea, something that once shook him to his very core. Now how he stared at the mass of water with a different type of fear. Not of what it could do to him, but what it had taken. Eddie shook as his hand rose to cover his mouth in hopes to muffle his sobs. 

Something off in the distance caught his eye. It was small, as it was so far away. But whatever it was disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, going back down under the waves. Eddie was about to turn, to go into his house and never come back. When all of a sudden something leaped from the water, with a human upper body and a fish tail. A magnificent blue that sparkled in the morning sun. It leaped out of the water and cut through the air before plunging back down into the water. 

A merman…

_ His _ merman. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> word count: 1336 
> 
> Sorry I know this is a lot shorter than normal but next chapter is the epilogue, the final chapter, sadly... But trust me it’s amazing and are all gonna love it! so get ready, but until then,
> 
> So Long and Goodnight.


	7. Still Scaly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The finally

It had been a week since Beverly, or any of the Losers had heard from Eddie. He had gone totally radio silent on every social media and didn’t even answer the door when they tried to visit. Bev was worried and she was gonna do something about it.

After rifling through her stash of keys, she finally found the spare key to Eddie’s house that he gave her in case of emergencies. In her mind this was deemed a worthy time to use it. So she shoved it in her pocket and marched over to her neighbours house.

She didn’t even bother knocking, she’d been knocking for the past week with no response. She rang the doorbell, shoved the key in its hole and slipped into the house.

“EDDIE!” She called out. Bev searched the main level, the kitchen, family room and basement. She shouted out his name a couple other times before making her way up the stairs and onto the top floor. Surprised that he wasn't in his room, she wondered if he was there at all. _Maybe he left town_ , the idea of Eddie leaving without notifying anyone sent a shiver down her spine. Finally, as she was walking past the bathroom she caught a glimpse of Eddie through the door that was cracked open.

“Eddie?” She questioned as she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Eddie was indeed in the bathroom. He had fallen asleep in the bathtub with a blanket around his shoulders and a tear soaked pillow under his head. His cheeks pink while his eyes were puffy from crying.

Beverly let out a sigh of relief before kneeling down beside the tub and reaching down to nudge Eddie.

“Eddie, sweety, wake up.” She raised her voice slightly in hopes of waking him from his slumber.

Eddie’s eyes blinked open. He jolted sideways, trying to sit up, but he was in a bathtub. “Ri-” Eddie stopped mid word, “Beverly?” He croaked, his mind hazing from sleep.

“Hey Eddie.” She smirked at his disheveled hair, half of it matted to his face while the rest shot out in random directions.

Eddie began to rub his eyes in hopes of clearing his vision then asked. “W-What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because my best friend just decided to drop off the fucking face of the earth without telling anyone.” Sarcasm laced her voice as she scratched her head, as if she had to think about it.

“Oh… Yeah,” Eddie glanced away, guilt created a pit in his stomach.

“Oh, yeah,” she mimicked. “Eddie what’s going on?” She asked as her brow furrowed, clearly worried.

Eddie realized he had hid for too long. “Richie’s gone.” His voice shook, but he continued, “H-He had to go home. I miss him so much.”

Beverly leaned over the tub and wrapped her arms around Eddie. “I’m sorry honey, I thought Richie was gonna stay.”

“I thought so too.”

It took a while but soon Eddie was back to living a semi normal life. Every morning when he woke up he’d go for a walk on the beach and watch the waves, in and out, in and out. After Beverly ambushed him at his house, she had helped him clean and make some actual food for himself. She agreed to let Eddie tell the rest of the Losers what happened but she made him promise to get out of the house and see them. So when Bill invited them to his house when his parents were out of town, Eddie told them everything. At first he was only going to say how Richie left to go back to Canada but instead he began retelling the story of how they met and how he housed a merman in his bathtub for a month before he magically sprouted legs.

At first no one believed him, then Stan pipped up. “Makes sense. Richie was weird, he kinda just appeared. Plus he had trouble walking and was obviously unaware of most things we talked about. So yeah, I buy it.” With Stan behind him he was slowly able to convince the rest of the group. The thing that really got all of them on board was when he whipped out his phone and showed them the photos he’d taken of Richie in the tub with his tail, he refrained from playing the video, that was _his_.

That night Eddie had felt better than he had in a long time. There was a weight off his shoulders now that the rest of the losers knew about Richie. He really hated lying to them.

Eddie was in the middle of folding the freshly washed clothes he had just removed from the dryer when he felt an odd lump in the pocket of a pair of shorts. He rummaged around in there until he felt a smooth object rub up against his fingers. He collected them and looked down at what he held. A small gasp escaped his lips when he realized what he was holding. _Scales and sea glass._

A tear rolled down his cheek, but for a change it wasn’t filled with sadness. _No_ , Eddie was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of joy as he recalled all of the best moments he had with Richie. Everything from their first kiss to how Richie helped him in the water. That night he fell asleep in one of Richie’s massive cat T-shirts. It was still filled with the smell of the boy he loved. That was the first time he had a good night’s rest in a long time.

~

The next morning Eddie found himself watching the sunrise from his bedroom window as he sipped from his first cup of coffee. The pastel pinks and purples filling his body with a comforting feeling as the new day began. The ocean in his backyard was fairly calm, which was a nice change considering the past few days have been filled with white caps and cool water.

The human’s gaze scanned the horizon, he examined the various clusters of rocks that poked out from the ocean’s surface. Finally his gaze fell on one of the clusters closest to shore.

He noticed something shiny laid over the rocks.He didn’t want to get his hopes up again…  
What really got his heart racing was when he saw a fucking _hand_ lift up and off the rock. Immediately, Eddie ditched the whole ‘getting his hopes up’ thing and bolted from his room and down the stairs. The only thing he was focused on was the stairs under his feet, then the door in front of him. He yanked open the back door and leaped out and into his backyard. Eddie ran through his yard, not stopping when he reached the ocean, he simply dived into the waves.

Making it to the rocks didn’t take _that_ long, but it felt like a lifetime. When he hoisted himself up and onto the rock his heart nearly stopped beating completely.

There he was, all sprawled out on his back, tail and all, one hand on his forehead while the other laid beside him. His inky black hair all wild and tangled just like the way it was when they first met. Eddie couldn’t deny how good he looked.

“Richie…” Eddie’s voice drifted off as he admired the merman in all of his fish-like glory.

Richie’s eyes fluttered open and landed on the two legged beauty that hovered over him. He let out a little amused breath of air through his nose as if in shock he ever saw Eddie again. He squinted more than normal, especially since he didn’t have his glasses on, but he could clearly see the beauty before him. The sun shone in his eyes as he moved his hand to cover the light that blinded him.

Eddie’s face scrunched up, “Wait what the fuck, where are your glasses?” he asked.

Richie shrugged as he squinted even more as if he was trying to say ‘ _how the fuck am I supposed to know?’_.

“Richie what happened?” Eddie asked.

Richie leaned up and reached a hand up to the back of Eddie’s neck as he pulled him down, their lips meeting in the middle. The human and the merman kissed as if not a day had passed since they last saw each other.

“Hey Spaghetti,” Richie breathed.

Eddie giggled at the realization. “Did you just steal _my_ spit so you can talk?” he smiled against Richie’s lips.

“Oh you know it!” Richie smirked before going back in for another kiss.

~

•One Year Later•

“God I don’t get how you weirdos like this shit,” Richie gagged as he invenonetenly sipped Eddie’s coffee.

“Us? Weird? Speak for yourself Fish butt,” Beverly smirked up at Richie from where she sat on the floor beside the couch. She reached up and grabbed Ben’s drink from where he sat on the couch, sipped it then handed it back.

“How do you like it? I tried a new recipe for that one,” Stan motioned towards Ben’s drink.

Since the Losers started college, Stan has taken up the art of coffee-making. First by purchasing an expensive ass coffee and espresso machine, he proceeded to get a job at one of those pinterest coffee shops with the fake plants and the really good cookies. The Losers dubbed it their new hang out spot, that’s where they had just returned from. Currently the Losers were lounging in their college’s common room. They were all lucky enough to have rooms on the same floor so it made it really easy for all of them to meet up.

Bev nodded in approval. “It’s for sure better than last time.”

“You mean the time Bill shot frappuccino out of his nose?” Mike recalled a memory that made them all laugh a little.

“Not fu-funny Mikey,” Bill flicked his arm playfully.

Eddie reached down and snatched his drink back from Richie who was laying in his lap as he laid on the couch, back against the arm rest. After Eddie sipped his own drink then resumed playing with Richie’s clean and untangled hair. (Eddie always made sure Richie’s hair smelled good and often found himself brushing it out whenever it was just them two in the room. They both found it cathartic, reminding them of a simpler time)

When Richie returned to Eddie just over a year ago, the merman explained how the council of mers was furious with his actions and banished him from his kingdom of Oceana, never to return again. “Little do they know how good I’ve got it up here,” Richie smirked as he nudged Eddie. So Richie would go swimming, in the pool or the ocean whenever he pleased, going full tail and all. Eddie never got tired of watching him swim, it always left him in awe. Even the rest of the Losers loved Mer Richie. Even though Eddie had spilled the beans, the next time the Losers came over for a pool day they all demanded to see Richie’s tail. So of course he cannonballed into the pool and showed off his scaly blue tail, everyone loved it.

“Hey Rich how did that test go today?” Ben asked.

Richie rolled his eyes at the thought. “As good as it can go. I knew most of the content but I’m pretty sure I fudged the last question.”

After some intense studying and some magic, Richie was able to slither his way into college at the same time as the rest of the Losers. He majored in marine biology. It was pretty easy as he knew most of the stuff they taught but he was just happy he got to be with his real family. Sure there were some hard times, since he was a merman. Like when it was raining outside, making Richie late for class, or when someone (Bev) was smoking in their room and set off the sprinklers. But other than that, life was pretty swell.

All the Losers applied early so they’d be able to pick their roommates. So Richie and Eddie lived together, which wasn't anything new, now they just had two beds to choose from even though they always slept together. Mike and Bill shared a room across from Richie and Eddie while Ben and Stan lived in the room beside them. Bev had a room all to herself as her roommate dropped out. There were about four other rooms in their hall, but they didn’t see much of their other hall-mates so the Losers ran that floor. Lucky floor number seven.

“Well, well, well, look who it is.” A familiar voice caught the Losers’ attention as they all turned towards the hallway to see Victor Criss walking towards them.

“Hey Vic, how’s it going?” Mike greets him as he’s the closest one to him.

“Eh, ya know same old same old,” Vic takes a sip from his own drink as he walks around to lean against the couch Richie and Eddie are on.

Sure the Bowers gang bullied them throughout the years, thank god Victore was the only one who attended the same college as them. He also wasn't that bad of a guy, without Henry bossing his ass around he was acutely a pretty chill guy. He’s even hung out with them a couple of times.

“Staniel, how’re you liking the new job?” Vic gestured to Stan with the hand he held the drink with.

Richie flinched at the movement from where he laid below, worried that the drink would drip on him. Eddie caught on and wrapped his arms a little tighter around him, snuggling his head into Richie’s soft curls as he balanced his own drink on Richie’s chest.

“Oh god not you too,” Stan facepalms, “That’s _not_ my name.”

Both Richie and Vic burst out laughing. The merman reached a fist up to the bleach blonde for a fist bump.

The next moment played out in slow motion. Vic reached down with the hand that held his drink, when their fists collided, the liquid in his bottle sloshed from its container and fell down towards the merman. Richie jolted into a sitting position. With a quick slide of his hand, he was able to magically divert the water so it hit the floor instead of him.

A sudden wave of relief filled Richie as he avoided an accident, a code blue, but that relief disappeared as quickly as it rolled in, when Richie felt something cold and wet seep into the front of his shirt. He looked down at his chest and noticed that when he sat up, Eddie had tipped his own drink, which is why coffee now soaked his shirt.

“SHIT!” Richie hollered as he leaped from his seat on the couch and stood up. When he stood he pulled Eddie off the couch, he landed on the floor with a _thud_. Eddie didn’t waste any time scrambling to his feet just in time to meet Richie’s gaze.

“Code blue?” Eddie asked quietly, worry laced his voice.

“Code blue,” Richie confirmed. He looked back at all of his friends who had their eyes glued to him.

There was a moment where everyone just stared at each other before the rest of the Losers burst out in shouts, basically all of them saying how he needed to go _now_ and that they’d cover for him.

With that, Richie grabbed Eddie’s hand and ran like hell.

That was the scene, two boyfriends, one human and one that was far from it, laughing and running hand in hand as they ran to their dorm room.

Richie transformed the moment the door closed. He fell forward and landed on his now naked chest, his long, blue, scaly tail sprawled out behind him. When he fell his glasses had flown off of his face.

Eddie locked the door after them, tossed Richie one of the various towels they had laying around their apartment for moments like these. He tossed it down to Richie before he went to retrieve his boyfriend’s glasses which were a mere couple feet in front of Richie’s face, but he’s blind as fuck without them so that wasen’t new.

Eddie carefully picked them up off the ground and took a seat across from Richie, who was now sitting up and vigorously drying his tail. Eddie studied the glasses in his hands, feeling their frame and their insanely thick lenses. The tinted glass brought a nostalgic grin to his face.

The human reached forward and cupped Richie’s cheek, turning his face to look at him. Eddie smiled as he slid Richie’s glasses back on his face. He watched the fish boy's eyes clear with the help of his glasses, he glanced down at his tail and smiled.

_My boyfriend_ __  
_Sea glass and scales_ _  
_ _I wouldn’t want it any other way_

Eddie thought as he leaned in and kissed a merman.

 _His_ merman.

_Fin_

Get it?

Get it?

Fin?

Cause he’s a merman and has a fin?

Ahahah I know I’m hilarious. 

**Word Count: 2828**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 2828
> 
> Woah... I cannot believe this story is over. I’m sad cause I love mer Richie and the storyline, but at the same time I’m so happy with the way this story turned out! I always had trouble creating a storyline and sticking with it, so actually finishing a story that isn’t 100 chapters long with like 20 subplots is a big accomplishment for me!
> 
> Not sure if this will be the end of merman Richie’s adventures as I have a couple ideas for one shots that’d be based in the same universe. So let me know if you’d be interested in that! Comment down below or, heck, even request scenes! Like if you have something you’d like to see these characters do, let me know!
> 
> Throughout the entire time that I’ve published this story I’ve gotten so many sweet and loving comments, they always made my day! So don’t feel shy to spam my comment section and like stuff because it really shows how much you guys like my work. Thank you to everyone who’s supported this book, none of your appreciation went unnoticed, I saw every like, bookmark, and comment. I appreciate all of it. 
> 
> And if you’ve enjoyed my work so far, why not go check out my other Reddie story, Everfalls. It’s about Eddie who is a magically rabbit hybrid and Richie who’s a werewolf! If you liked this story then you’ll for sure enjoy Everfalls. You can find it on my profile along with the rest of my work!  
> And if you want to stay up to date with me and my life, go check out my Instagram Stellar.Cosplays or my Tumblr stellar-alley. I'd love to see some of you guys there!
> 
> Okay I think that’s everything I wanted to say. So once again, thank you, I really have loved every second of writing this book. I love IT, and mermaids, so this truly was the best of both worlds. 
> 
> That’s all from me guys, catch you on the flip side...
> 
> So Long and Goodnight.


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